The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-05-19
uest virginia Esailrcads

- ~ have traye1lea many parts 81 Mesel
:, .,,s, ,oss well the rugged tIrtese
!, sha conn try--tne bills on iliiis ana
Abs on Alps that rise, and do ho :, tne nv
suted lines OF impossible survihg aa'tiels
snat meet tl,c traveller at every tafn sna
s sro MIN back upon fine line he bad hoped
- ), emerge from, and bring despair instead
81 enc hoped-for deliyerance which Dao
seemed so near.
The elevations In the northern, part OF
west Virginia are rich IN noble scenery ana
wonderful freaks Of nature, but poor ih-
deed IN Che ways and easy outlets ifou.
thcsnopntai,, labyrinths, which are SO grand
ard lovely that man would always s 'lpai :.
down 10 rest with delight rather tnan 1 toit
! AZ - cscape from, a prison which could
only be an elysium to one VINO shouta' NC
hemmed within. SO. !
.sryetSi Ii seems remarkable to US that people
I'm s,,c,, strange yet lovely land should be
a,I the time endeayoring to find their way
out by crossing the bills aud tupnelling inc
mountains, when their natural way OUT
would be By following the water-courses
out from their sources to their mouths
That would give them The way out by the
water-leyel,. max: SgaS easy, ana car
ryitlg all timber, ore, produce, an 1o y, -,
tho proper point OF accumulation ana u us.
Ttf,e Elk. the Ganiey, the Greenbrier, all
move along their beautiful courses TOWARDS
the Kanawha, and before reaching Ohio 1al'
I'm with the Chesapeake and Ohio raiifoad,
whose grade eastward until it reaches !Cilsf
Ton Forge is but 294 feet TO the mile ana
there downward tothe tide. What is that
grade to Justify the building OF roads along
nrecipitous heights to avoid it? The roads
following the tributary streams to the juno
tion with the controlling streams would
solve the problem OF transportation ana
both cheaper and facilitate ireights liberated
from the precipitous hills and perpiexed
defics and interlocked barriers that put
bars to every way out OF difficulty.
The natural way out OF a country is along
its water-courses. There has been too much
OF independence and defiance OF the
natural law. To some extent that great
power, the railroad, should decline to make
concession to the water-courses svery true,
but there is a point beyond which it would
be absurd to be obstinate. The lines along
the water secure q great advantage ID
grades, and when the cost Of building and
the advantage Of grades in ease aud safety
are Justly ascertained it is easy to decide
whether the longer and the easier way is not
the best. =
We are persuaded that the whole system
Of building roads across mountains and in
Vulnerable hills will never secure TO West
Virginia that thorough development and
improvement of her country that would
come from the building Of railroads along
the rivers, from their sources to their
mouths: to the Greenbrier, New, Kanawha, |
and Ohio rivers. That will make tue
State properly Improved in an orderly
and ,steadiiy-increasing manner. There !
will be no reversing the order OF
things-no putting things upon their
apex instead OF their base. But send all
freights along the easy route to the point OF |
where increase facilitates
markets and distribution, and the Slate
gains steadily power and prosperity.
Whereas the system Of Improvement which
sets out to scatter and not concentrate, to
frittcr away and wbittle down instead OF
and fostering enterprise and
population, is sure to weaken
a State and devastate its natural resources.