The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1880-04-28

.klyerto some poln BnE the lead
mines in Wythe co n, Virginia.
No better route tho1 his could, /
think, be selected, boz On account
of the small cost Of CO .rucijon and
because. of the valued hinerals and
other resources w6 would be
reached and mad6 al BE to your
city
laaciOn which / will present has
been deprived from reliable persons
who have no pecuniary interest
whatever in the country through
which theroad will pass, and that ]
am chiefly indebted for the greater
portion Of this information to Prof.
VIM. M. Fontaine, of the University
Virginia, who has made a personal
examination Of the country and its
resources, of which ] will speak. ]
shall consider the subject Of this
road and all the resources of our
State, solely asaffecting the interests
of the people Of Pittsburgh. The
terminus of the road should be as far
East as the point which i have
named. When the vicinity Of the
lead mine is reached, the road would
be within a short distance Of two
lines Of narrow gauge roads which
would connect it with the Virginia
Midland r. r. and the entire Eastern
seaboard and also with the Southern
system Of railroads. These narrow
gauge roads are the Danville and
New River railroad which is char
tered to run from Danville or some
point between Danville and Pittsyl,
vania c. II. through Martinsville, in
Henry county, Va, Patrick G. H.,
Hillsville, in Carroll county, to some
point on the Atlantic, Mississippi
and Ohio railroad not East of Chris.
tiansburg, and the Pittsylvania and
Franklin narrow gauge now com.
pleted which leaves Che Virginia
Midland railroad at Marrow Gauge
Junction"-forty miles south Of
Lynchburg, and terminates at Rocky
Mount, franklin county. This road
has been constructed to secure the
magnetic ores of the counties of Pitt
sylvania and Franklin. 1t was ex-
tended through Floyd county to meet
the road from Pittsburgh, and this,
in addition to bringing sdRr city in.
to direct connection with the entire
Atlantic and Southern seaboards and
opening to her an extensive market,
such an extension and connection Of
the roads would give her access, as
will appear hereafter, to the purest
of iron ores.
To point out the resources which
may be opened by the Pittsburgh
Southern railroad, it will be well to
follow its route and to call attention
to the character Of the country which
it traverses.
From the Pennsylvania line to
Morgantown the road would pass in
the lower barren measures, which
contain in this region several well
developed deposits of good iron ore,
of the usual coal measure character,
which in the early history of iron
manufacture supported several furn.
aces. The Goals of the upper pro
ductive measures are all in the hills
above water level, and aggregate de.
velopment unequalled anywhere
They are the Pittsburgh bed, averag-
ing from eight to ten feet, the Red
stone, of about three and a half to
four feet, the Sewickley, of from FIVE
to six feet, and the Waynesburg, Of
from seven to nine feet. There is
reason TO believe that some of these
Goals may prove to be excellent COX,
ing Goals. From Morgantown TO
Grafton and thence to the vicinity
of Beverly, in Randolph county, the
general conditions as tocoal and iron
are much the same except that the
lower barren measures are now chiefly
in the hills and the lower productive
measures are those which yield most
of the coal, which is neither so
abundant nor so good as that Of the
upper productive measures along the
Monongahela. From Beverly east
ward we enter a region where the
timber, which, varied in kind and
great in quantity, has scarcely been
touched. This belt Of country, ly-
ing along the western side of the
east front ridge of the Alleghenyand
its combinations 10 the south, ex.
tending with varying width through
Tucker, Randolph, Pocahontas, and
the northern portion Of Greenbrier,
has In the valleys and lower hills a
mingled growth Of white oak and
other oaks, wild cherry, poplar. wal.