The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1879-09-17
+ Editorial Correspondence.
Along the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad

We have been up to the White Sulphur
Springs 1t is lovely spot, but not so
beautiful as Clifton Forge, where we
stopped" few days. The clear waters
of Jacksons River here find their way
1--WE will not say cut') through an out
lying spur Of the Rich Patch Mountain
(near Locust Bottom where the Mont
gomery Presbytery held its recent SEES
sion) Crossing the river from the depot
by a primitive ferry, we pass along this
beautiful stream with precipitous cliffs Of
Silurian sandstone on either side until we
reach our inn about half mile from the
depot. Right across the river little cars,
secured by cable are running down the
sides of the mountain, loaded with fossil
iron ore for the Quinnimont Furnace, LOG
miles farther west. The river is damned,
and presents therefore fine stretch of
deep clear water to the southeast, which
affords the best fishing in the mountains
black bass, club, Aat-backs, perch, and
catfish. Altogether it is the loveiest
and most romantic spot between the Blue
Ridge and the Alleghanies. Two miles
to the south the river unites with the
Cowpasture, and forms "the noble James"
d Four miles above on the railroad are the
Lowmoor iron mines, two miles from the
railroad, afording the fossil iron ore found
in sandstone rock at Clifton Forge, and
the brown hematite found in a coarser
sandstone higher up in the Silurian strata.
A large iron furnace is being erected al
the railroad depot. At Covington, the
county seat of Allegheny, Is miles from
Clifton Forge the Fort Young of Indian
times, we found ourselves at the portal
of the Alleghanies amid the black states
and shales of the early Devonian when
the fishes began to swarm in the paleozoic
seas. We are still on Jacksons River.
There are three churches here, the Pres
byterian, Methodist, and Baptist. The
Rev. James NJ. Rice, pastor of the Pres
byterian church, was lying extremely low
from sickness. We noticed that the Gov
ington jail was built Of hard dark
limestone, and on enquiry learned that
the rock had been quarried near the town.
We repaired to the spot, and found the
limestone Off we may use such an express
sion of forms that have been dead these
several hundred millions of years. liter
ally alive with fossil shells. Anyone who
will take the trouble to walk to this
quarry, a quarter Of mile from the Gov
ington Hotel, may fill his pockets with
fossil brachiopods and trilobites Isn't it
strange that the new jail in Covington is
built of these shells, which lived here be-
fore the Alleghanies existed, and when
all this region was covered by the waters
Of a great continental ocean, spreading
out westward from the Blue Ridge The
poor prisoner whom we saw Gas we were
walking out in the sweet evening air with
Mrs. CENTRAL) through the bars of his
dungeon, may amuse his leisure hours
picking out these shells from the walls of
his prison.
From Coyington we took the cars for
the White Sulphur, twenty miles distant.
We crossed Jackson's River three times,
and following the valley of Dunlap's
Greek, we pass over the heavy embank-
ment, of tragic memory, at Jerry's Run,
1876 feet high, and in a short time enter
the Lewis Tunnel, 1000 feet through the
hard sandstone of the Little Allegheny
After passing through this, and running
a short distance, we come to Allegheny
Station, 1000 feet above the sea, and the
entrance to the tunnel through the main
Allegheny, 1890 feet long. The waters
here divide, and flow, some to the Allan
tic, some to the Ohio turned this way or
that by pebble. Crows" 50 famous
in olden times as one of the old stage inns
Of that period is at the foot of the noun
tain. Five miles from Allegheny Station
we reach the White Sulphur, on the lower
slopes of Hates Mountain in the valley
Of Towards Creek-the Vanity Fair I'M