Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1883-09-07
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA.

THE NEWEST MINING AND TRADING VIR-
GINA TOWNSVILLE NEW RIVER RAIL
ROAD-wlLD sCENERY-C OAL AND
IRON, PIONEERS OF THE ENTERPRISE
THE LUMBER TRADE, TIE CATTLE
TRADE, AND FISH MATCHING THE
NORFOLK & ERN-IMPROvEMENTS
AND PROSPERITY.
Correspondence Of the Staunton VINDICAToR.
PlCAhONTAs, TAZgWELL Co, VA, !
Angus. 81, 1883 {
Having spent the last few weeks in
travelling in this fine section of the State,
very familiar to the W iter ten years ago,
but now so much changed and improved
as to impress him greatly with the present
developments and wonderful resources of
the untry. he thinks some account of
Southwest Virginia, as seen after ten years
of absence, u i'll intert st the readers of the
VINDICAToR. [ write from a town, al
most a city; unknown six months ago,
now having a populltion Of over LOCO
souls.
Pocahontas is situated in TaZewell
y. dU lu0 lt1 JUS Vi tut NEW hlt6l
Branch of the Norfolk & western Rail
road, IS miles from Central on New River.
THE PIONEERS.
Less then two years ago the pioneers,
DR. James O'Keeffe, Agent of the South
west Virginia Improvement Company, a
wealthy Penusylvanla corporation. and
Mr. w. A. Lathrop, their Superintendent,
rode as near as they could get to this
place. They then tied their horses upon
the brow of the hill aid struggled on foot
through the dense underground of laurel
III the bottom. where the town now stands,
and determined the location, here in this
forest of hemlQck trees, of one of the rich
est 12-foOt beds OF bitumlnouS Coal in the
Virginias. Last February year ago, this
wealthy syndicate, consisting of J. d. Ser
geant and Thomas Graham. of Philadel-
phia, and others, having purchased $1,000
acres of the land hereabouts, the first pick
was stuck into the inexhaustibe wealth
underground, and the first axe was struck
into the immensurable wealth of timber
above ground. The N. & w. Railroad
Company, fully alive to the Importance of
the development to their material Interests,
as they we're then drawing their supply of
coal from Tennessee, commenced at once
with vlgor the construction. under great
natural difficulties, of road to these ceal
beds. Last April they we're running
freight trains over An excellent road to this
place, and on the 18th Of June passenger
trains ran through, and now six freight
and two passenger trains run back and
forth every day between Central and Poca-
hOntas,
THE YOUNG CITY.
The town, besides Long rows of comfort
able dwellings, contains two hotels, four
or five stores, staunch Democratic paper,
The Outlook" two ten-pin alleys, even
brass band and other improvements. The
mines, under the skilful and energetic
management of Superintendent Lathrop,
have been opened 800 feet under the
mountain and a steam engine, of peculiar
construction, dives THROUGH the wide,
dark passages. cut in The solid coal beds
and brings out to the light of day every
half-hour long trains, heavily laden with
these black diamonds.
THE WORK OF THE MINES.
The mine is ventilated by a huge steam
fan. placed at an outlet in the side of the
mountain, which running day and night
draws the smoke, steam, and iapure va
pors from its depths. The coal, $50 tons
daily, is run down to an admirably PLAN
red "tipple,' where the Jumps are dumped
into the coal cars of the Norfolk & Vest
ern, and the slack, sitting through heavy
grating. is caught in horse Cars and drawn
down along the rows of zoo coke 0vehs,