Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-10-13

ieally. The United States building
is to be q two story and basement
house; is to be built entirely OF sand.
stone and will cost about $4,000 exclu.
sive Of the site which cost some $1,000
more.
Newspaper, Schools, and Paving.
There is boom in newspapers in the
neighborhood of Charleston just now.
Mr.. Pemberton OF the Gdzette counted
over for me some eight or ten publica-
tons issued iu the city and vicinity
with several precincts yet to hear from.
The school embroglio growing out
Of the appointment OF Rhode Island
gentleman as Superintendent over
the recent incumbent, who is a
resident of the county, has
ceased 10 be q matter OF discussion for
the present The whole trouble seems
to have grown out OF the fashion OF car
rying politics into the management OF
the public schools, a practice in which
one party has INDUCED as much as the
other.
Invent to look at the piece Of paving
on one. of the streets here which has
proven so satisfactory, and which has
been commended by the REGISTER to the
favorable attention OF other cities. The
street is a short one leading from the
main business thoroughfare out to
the postoffice, and is used to .
considerable extent by heavy teams as
we'll as by the lighter travel. The paw
ing was done in 1859 with ordinary hard
brick, the street being first rounded up
aud covered with q layer Of sand, on
which tarred plank were laid extending
from curb to curb. Then came another
layer Of sand and on this the bricks were
laid edgewise and sanded like those OF
an ordinary sidewalk pavement. This
work, done nearly twelve years ago and
in constant and trying use, shows no
sign of giving way. 1t has had
no repairs in that time and
is as smooth and pleasant to drive over
as when first laid. Even in front OF sa-
loon hitching posts, which are largely
used by the natives, and where the
horses fight the flies while the owners
talk politics, there is no depression in
its surface, and il is ap parently rs dura.
BILE as it is cheap and pleasant to use.
The best test OF is satisfactorines, how
ever, is the fact that the city is now en-
gagged in putting it down on its Main
street. 1t costs dollar and ten cents
square yard, the city doing the necessa.
ry grading and exeavating.
Railroads
There is q good deal OF railroad talk
in the valley, the promise of the Rich
mond and Allegheny, and the Wheel
ing, Parkersburg and Charleston roads
being regarded as likely to be carried
out in the near future. Ex-Sheritf Ross
Ter told me. however, that he regarded
the the proposed diversion Of the
latter road to Point Pleasant as di-
minishing the chances of its completion
to Charleston, for while the right Of way
through either Roane or jackson coun-
ties could be obtained for the asking, it
would cost considerable to obtain it
through the bottoms that skirt the Ka-
nav ba river.
At the Hawks Nest, where the Rich
mond and Allegheny line is to cross
New River, there is some danger OF col
l.sion between the Chesapeake and Ohio
and the new road. 1t is charged that
when Mr.. Huntington found that the
Richmond and Allegheny people intend
e1 20 cross there, and go on up the river
on the opposite side, he caused the for
nation Of local company, OF which
Gen. 0ley and others OF his lieutenants,
were incorI orators, 10 build local road
over the route located by the Richmond
and Allegheny engineers, and it is now
stated that the local road franchise will
be contested, on the ground that it is
mere creature of the Chesapeake and
Ohio company, and comes within the
provision forbidding tue oa ming or op'
Grating of parallel lines by the same
company within the limits OF this State.
On the other hand the Chesapeake
and Ohio Company deny own
ership in the local road,
and say Mr. Hdntington's only connec-
ton with it Was the sale to it of the right
OF way purchased by him from Mr.. Low,
OF New York, the owner ofsome eighteen
miles Of land along New river, opposite
the G. & D. railroad.
River Improvements.
Friday went with Eugene Dana, OF
tie Campbell Greek Coal Company to
look at the government locks above
Charleston. Mr. Dana, as manager
of the Campbell Creek Company
and as a member OF the firm
of Dana Bros, is one of the largestcoal
shippers en- the river, and is one et The
hive men who have dore much to bring
out the resources of this section. AS
we drove along behind a rattling good
team, he pointed out the various salt
works above Charleston, a few OF them
in operation, but most of them idle and
fast going to decay. There is no mar.
gin for kanawha salt at present, and
probably will not be for some time
TO come. The Saginaw people as salt
makers seem to have captured the mar
kes. Their brine is said to be stronger
to begin with, their fuel consists OF the
slabs aud sawdust OF their lumber mills,
and the exhaust steam of the latter is
used to evaporate the salt water alter
boiling. In this way they can put salt
into Cincinnati at seventy-fve cents
barrel, when the salt-makers OF the Kan
avha and Ohio valleys cannot place it
there at dollar, Notwithstanding their
nearer proximity to the market, and
this will probably continue 10 be the
case until the lumber of the Northwest
and the.fuel it furnishes is exhausted.
The first OF the government locks
known as "No 5" is u miles above
Charleston, and is as handsome piece OF
engineering and mechanical work as one
could wish to see. The dams are con-
st, ted after the French pattern, known
rs the charnoine, with movable wickets,
which are tripped flats on the bottom
OF the river during high water, leaving
the whole stream open, and during low
water they form a pool in and out Of
which boats are locked in the ordinary
way. Numbers 3, 4and 8 above Charles
ton are similar in their plans, and it is
proposed to build s, Z, S, 8, 10 and II on
the same principle below Charleston.
These, with the old fashioned locks and
dams known as and 2, to be built
above the three now finished, will give
continuous coal stage from
Kanawha Falls to Point Pleas.
ant at the mouth OF the river, a
distance OF about one hundred miles,