The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1881-06-16

little houses swarm with children almost d
numerous as the house-flies. With plenty I
work In the mines and furnaces, with a ric
soil and cheap land, West Virginia seems t
! be good place for the poor man. AS ger
eral thing the labor is white, the development
wonderful, and the prosperity Of this regio
at least such as to indicate an entire capacitr
to pay the States share of the Virginia deb
without any more ado. That this will be don
there seems to be but little doubt, and the in
dications are that it will soon be done if Their
| is any significance in the circumstance, sstatet
| to be a fact, that Well-known capitalist o
Baltimore and another Of West Virginia hay,
bought up nearly all the certificates, and will
next winter offer to compromise with tn,
State at 30 cents on the dollar, ard make som,
millions by the operation. t,6.1et 81, 5,sd
AN EXPERTS yIEWs.,,i ss,5 s..,i
In an article recently on the iron ores ant
Goals on the line Of the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railway, and the need Of an Industrial srryex
OF Virginia and West Virginia, Prof. Eplestoni
of the School of Mines, Columbia College. New
York, says, "if such survey could be made
and placed accessible to the public the lands
containing the deposits would soon command
high price, and some OF the Goals of West
virginia Woula take the place altogether oil
ihaiiy Oh the pleuullnous Goals now being used
IN the Market LOT industrial purposes He say
he has examined number Of the coal fields Of
West Virginia in their different geological no.
rizons from the base to the ton of The coal
field, and found the Goals which thew Weld ex-
ceedingly pure. None ofthem, so far as he ex-
amlned, contain more than2 per cent of ash,
and are besides almost free from sulphur and
phosphorus. Almost all Of them are capable of
making a coke which is more like charcoal in
its qualities, being at the same time much more
tenacious and capableof resistinga yery heavy.
charge in the blast furnace, while in other re-
spects they act likeithat fuel Some of these
Goals are SO valuable for the manufacture OF
iron that it is said that at Longdae they require
only ton OF coke to make ton of iroa, which
Is very small quantity. The coke usually
made contains only six per cent. of ash, against
more than double that amount as the average
of the Connellsville coke Many oflthe West
Virginia Goals should never be allowed to 70
out of the country except as manufactured into
coke. Ii this was done there would be double,
profit to the coal owner and to the iron manu-
facturer, since all the fine coal could be used in
the manufacture of coke, and thus realize a
higher profit than ifsold as coal. % ''ioi'4 '"t
NEW RIVER COAL REGION. 200 ifk't
In a few miles west of the White SULPHUR
Springs the road strikes the Greenbrier river,
where the booms for logs give the traveller, an,
lhtimation OF the lumber trade. Then comes
the thriving town Of Ronceverte, and in quick
succession the beautiful falls ofNew river, into
Which the Greenbrier flows. This New river
region is through what some call canyon, but
Hooked in vain for the Colorado characteristics
Of the canyon-narrow water-Worn cliffs and
steep and bare perpendicular walls of rock
The stream grows narrow and swift as we fol- 4
low its windings, but its course is Invariably
around the noses of the foothills Of the Ale
ghanles. The mountains are covered with
thick timber down to the margin of the water
At this season the forest is a dense mass ofyer-
dure, and the river in its tortuous wind1ngs and
majestic surroundings grows more and more
beautiful as we progress. At times the hillsldes
are almost perpendicular masses of green,
in many places with great beetling
crags. These overhanging cliffs and the some
times exceedingly narrow waterway probably
permit the license Of the term canyon.
SEATS OF INDUSTRY. 8ne VI,
Quinnimont, where there are furnace, coal
and coke industries, is on the arc of a horse
shoe made by the winding ofthe stream among
The hills. 1t Is a beautiful situation The vii
age is built halfway up the mountain side; ii
the swift stream tumbling over
ooulders. AS its name indicates, it is in the
midst OF five mountains, whose reaks are so
closely clustered together that they cast their
shadows on each other as the sun passes on
MS diurnal course Throughout the ride one
could wish for no more fascinating scenery than
this part of West Virginia affords. Washing
son Irving, who made it a point to see and en-
10Y for himself all that there is in the way of
beautiful scenery abroad, tells lis that ION nc
country have the charms of nature been more 1
)rodigally lavished than on our own Her |
mighty lakes, like an ocean of liquid silver; her
with their bright aerial tints her |
Valleys teeming with wild fertility; her ire |
nendous cataracts, laundering in their soil |
ude; her trackless forests, where vegetation |
outs forth all its magnificence her skies kind |
ing with the magic of summer clouds and |
glorious sunshine-no, never need an American |
ook beyond his own country for the sublime
md beautiful of natures scenery" 1
Stone Cliff, Fire Greek, Sewel and Nutall |
'urg, at each of which stoppage was made In
uccssion, afforded examples as to the extent |
Q which coke-burning is carried on in, the |
New River region. In every instance ovens |
re built parallel with the railroad, convenient |
or the shipment of the product. The coal |
ems areunitormly near the summit Crawl |
y lncllnes bring the coal straight down the |
maintain sides and shutes catch the cool either |
o deposit it without handling into railroad |
loppers, or into bins for burning. Nothing
Duld be cheaper or more expeditions than !
Aese appliances, and some of the establish |
nsnts do annually an enormous business both [
n coal and coke. They are nearly all owned I
by northern owners. .1o lAhib |
GAULEY MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT. sa8I
Tie widest and grandest of the localities in
ne New River region, as well as the most in
erestng and extensive for its coal-mining and |
,oke- burning interests, is doubtless the Hawks
Nest lnthe Gauley mountains, in the region
where GOV. Wise had his barren campaign in
he early(part of the late war. This Gauley
coal is mined by an English COM
)any The vein which they are working is
Ibout 900 feet above the river and 500 feet
rom the summit of the mountain. The pro,
iuct is 400 tonsOf rich coal daily. The vein is
i feet thick, lying in three or four strata The
,oal is brought dpwn by a narrow gauge rail
way 81 feet wide,Vour miles long, 1000 feet
Use and the creates grade 800 feet to the mile
steam ' is used Tor hauling up empty cars and
he loaded ones are tent down by gravity at a
attling rate ofspeed I'm trains of Is cars, man
'ged by two men to e,ch train The engine
md cars are of course mail in proportion to
he narroWness of the tack. 9'.'' 'ai4 ~
q sa A THRILLING RIDE. 7s sra
II was decided that the hdies and gentlemen
mould rlde IN one OF tnese toy trains to the
nine and descend by gravity. The "pigpeni
pecial," as it was called, frSm the size, and
hape of the cars, was made Up and swept as
lean as they could be made. The ladies were
ssisted to jump in; it was like getting into
lirty dry-goods boxes. Everybody looked
With curiosity on the mine1nture locomotive
md wondered how It could Mug a train loaded
With fifty people upthe winnings of this steep
md narrow little track for -four miles; but
when it started to the work INLAND with Wig
,rous shorts, which sent forth showers of ashes
md burning cinders and volumes of dense
moke, new interest was impaired to the ex-
,rtions of the little giant of the hawks Nest.
As defense umbrellas were hoiaed, and some
# them were soon riddled with Hples made by
he lve-coal cinders. In the midst of this
pleasing shower of fire thunder storm broke
llmost out Of a cloudless sky, and tie trip was
literally made amidst fire and water; but the
novelty of the experience and the excitement
If the moment kept everybody in good humor
The route followed the hillside, along the
course of mountain torrent, through dry
yulches and magnificent defles, clinging to the
'ocky sides, where way had been blasted for
he narrow roadbed beneath great everhanging
masses of sandstone, cliffs, and over giddy !.
;restles to the end. At one point our route
ay through minerature tunnel, which was
ike picture more than reality. In the wild
gorge through which the torrent poured it's
'ushing stream there were several cascades