The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-03-02
REsT YIRGINIA WEALTH.
BOmo Statements Concerning Our Ex.
hAusIless Mineral DePOaiIs,

value OIL the trade OF lne soutu " 1uIs VIty
however, and it seems that the times ar
ripe for an effort to develop the one ant
secure the other. During the period o
financial stringenCy, now happily over
the Plttsburgh Southern Railway
which Is undeniably the most direc
avenue to the ore beds Of Wes
Virginia, and with It's contempls
ted branches to the chief CommerC Ia
depots OF Virginia and the Carolinas, die
not receive an encouragement calculated
to make its usefulness as complete as pos
slbls. The total length Of the contsm'
plated line with its branches Is about SOC
miles. In its course the Southern will
cross the Baltimore 4 Ohio road near
Grafton, about 100 miles from this city
the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad near
White Sulphur, about 240 miles from the
city; the New River at 800 miles out, and
the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio at q point
325 miles from the city. A branch Of the
road, now In operation, connects this line
at Washington, Pa, in the same depot,
with the Hempfeld road to Wheeling and
the Washington & Waynesburg Narrow
Gauge to Waynesburg, the county seat oil
Greene county.
II is proposed to make connections near
the southern border OF West Virginia,
with system OF roads traversing Virginia
and extending into North Carolina. The
geographical advantages enjoyed by Pitts.
burgh relative TO the sections named, over
all other important manufacturing and
commercial cities, will be at once Rppre.
Ciated by tracing q line on map through
Allegheny, Washington and Greene coun.
ties, and extending II through the Virgin.
las and the Oarolinas.
Between Harper's Ferry and Cincinnati
there Ia no line OF railroad running North
and South. A vast area OF country and an
immense population invite this enterprise.
Charleston, s, O., Is directly south OF
Pittsburgh, and by the construction OF The
Southern Railroad, 1t can be brought into
closer connection with US than with st.
Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia or New
York.
From the northern terminus for a dis.
tance Of at least one hundred miles, the
road will traverse thickly settled Coun.
try. The soil is rich and fruitful, and the
people are mostly engaged In farming and
grazing, the entire length OF the proposed
road being well adapted to stock raising,
and although without railroad facilities,
they send large herds TO market every
year.
In several Of the counties on the route
there are dense forests OF unsurpassed
timber, such as oak, walnut, wild cherry,
poplar, ash, hickory aud locust. In Poca.
hontas, Randolph, Monroe and Greenbrier
are white, yellow and hard pine in abund.
ance.
In an official report OF West Virginia,
In 1870, we read OF the resources along this
line: 1.-THE following are the minerals
known to exist in almost exhaustless
quantities: Coal OF excellent quality In
veins Of l2, s and 8 feet thick al along the
line 10 PoCahontas county, reached with.
out shalting. Camel coal is found In
many localities. Fire and potter's clay
and glOss.sand are found In many places.
Iron ore is found In every county, and
especially Of superior richness and quality
In the counties OF Greenbrier, Monroe.
Pocahontas. There are rich and extensive
deposits Of copper, lead, rock salt and
gypsum, and very fine limestone in
nearly every county" There are also
large quarries Of fine building stone.
The special traffic that may be secured
is practically illimitsble. Through ALE.
cheney, Washington and Greene counties
this road cuts the Pittsburgh coal meas.
ures. The portion Of the road now oper.
ating ia doing already large coal carry.
ing traffic,
At q distance OF seventy miles from
Pittsburgh we enter veins Of coal similar
to the Connelsville, from which the Cele-
brated coke Ia made. From the ovens
reached by the Baltimore 4 Ohio railroad
and by the Pennsylvania railroad, there
are now shipped from $50 TO 400 cars Of
coke per day. The Southern can com.
mRnd a fair share OF this traffic. In fact
its great advantage over other competitors
In the cheapness OF its freights will prob.
ably tax its capacity in carrying coal and
coke northwardB. While for supplying
the furnaces established and being built
10 the two Virginias, North Carolina and
East Tennessee II could have no rival.
And the gas Goals lying for fifty miles
along the route could be delivered 10 the
South Atlantic States, cities, towns and
seaboard, at one.hali the cost over present
lines. In the tinsatis1ed demand for new
supplies OF iron ore lies the surest guaran.
Tee Of the great value Of the road when
completed. The thirteen blast furnaces of
Pittsburgh alone require 10000 tons Of
ore each year. The Cambria Iron Go. at
Johnstown consumes 25000O tons; and
there are other furnaces Of no small capa-
city, within reach Of supplies from this
road. American mines. now accessible,
have failed to supply this immense de.
mand. Hundreds OF thousands oi tons Of
foreign ores are imported at great ex.
penBe. Ores that eau be made valuable
TO our mills are reached in seventy.llVe
miles from Pittsburgh. Near Grafton
there are three blast furnaces now In op'
Grafton using the native ores. Less than
two hundred miles from Pittsburgh we
reach the iron orea ot PoCahontas and
Greenbrler counties. The extent Of these
deposits is simply amazing. Some Of them
are very rich, as may be seen by the an.
alyses, accessible 10 everyone. But a III.
lie further south we reach the undisputed
Beesemer ores.
Ia view Of these facts there can be no
question as 10 The adyisability Of at once
pushing the work on this road forward TO
its completion. II will pay Pittsburgh The
entire cost oil construction In q very lew
years, and its profits cannot help multi.
plying with every year Of lie operation.
In thh nav atii hhaan HntlfCeg OF SUPPLIES
Of crude materials, and in the opening up
Of new markets for all The varied indus.
tries OF this city, the road promises to be
q perennial source ot gain to tis,
Attack on FuneFaI BY Mob.
PHILADELPHIA, March 1.-When the
funeral cottese Of the late A. Oscar Jones,