Semi-weekly interior journal., 1883-05-11
EASTERN KESrrCRr.

building Of iron roads. Ed @
This district which 80 abounds in coal,
iron and timber is not confined to Ken.
tucky alone, but includes portions Of Vir
ginis. Tennessee aud North Carolins, and
Il is almost barren Of transportation fscili'
ties
Now public attention Is turning in thai
direction. The completion Of The Knox
willie branch Of the Louisville a Nashville
will he the beginning Of important changes
This line touches the Western edge Of the
mineral district, hut does not 20 through
the heart Of Il, ss would have been the
case had Morristown instead Of Knoxville
been It's objective point. Yet IL will al
once open a number Of valuable coal mines
Il brings directly into the market thou.
sands Of acres Of timber, and several mar.
row-gauge roads are slresdy marked out,
which will change the face Of the ooun.
try.
But other roads are also projected for
the purpose Of getting a part Of the valua.
BILE business which in the future must grow
up In these mountains. One Of these IL
the Carolins, Cumberland Gap and Chica.
60, which is 10 extend, with lie oopuec-
lions, from Charleston, 8. C., through Ak.
en-, scioss the lower corner Of North Caro-.
lima, thence through Eastern Tennessee
and Cumberland Gap TO London. There
IL strikes the Louisville Il Nashville sys.
tenn, securing Louisville 4 Chicago con.
nsction. and also n connection, via the Ken
tucky Central, with Cincinnati. This is a
consolidation Of several companies and
corporations What means have been OBJ.
tAined TO execute these projects we do not
know, but that line varying little from
this one ss We have drawn il will ultimate
ly open the CarolinAs to Louisville, and at
the same time do much 10 make available
the natural wealth Of the mountains, we
have no doubt.
Another proposed road s called the
Kentucky Union, and is to be extended
frum Lexington, by way Of Winchester,
on through the mountains 10 Abingdon,
Virginia, on the Norfolk and Western
road. Work, we are assured, will shortly
begin near Winchester, Ind on May 10
Clark county votes on the proposition to
give 10 the Kentucky Union Railroad
Company the right Of way aud to exemp,
il from taxation for twenty years, and
there Ia little doubt Il will be carried with
substantial unAnimity. The line as pro-
pO'ed runs through Clark, Powell. Wolf,
Breathitt, Perry and Leicher, thro' Pound
Gap into Virginia.
This road is the scheme Of the Dodge
syndicate, which owns 100000 acres Of
timber and mineral lands along the line oI
this projected road. The managers assert
that this road ia to be pushed with energy
and determination, and they speak in the
most coniiden, terms Of its prospects,
There are other roads which are turned
in the direction indicated, among them the
Rich nond n Three Forks, and Frankfort,
Georgetown 4 Paris, but we can now do no
more than refer 10 these lines in the most
general way. What the resources Of the
managers are we do not know. We men
iion these enterprises a. indicating an
awakening which is full OF promise for
the State of Kentucky. There are obsta.
cles to overcome, undoubtedly. before this
region can enjoy the transportation fsoili.
ties of Pennsylvania, and yet thirty years
ago what Is now the great coal and iron
region Of America had no railroads.
Every time there is reduction Of the
price Of pig-iron 81 a ton, some furnace In
Pennsy ylvanis closes permanently. Slowly
will the centre OF the iron empire move
West and South, but IL moves with all the
certainty Of gravitation. 10 these noun.
tAins are the finest camel Goals in the
world, the very best iron ores, excellent
coking coal, all within easy distance Of
each other. Even now car loads Of the IA
nous Cranberry ores OF North Carolina,
which are said to be the best in the world,
are carried to Pennsylvania, when they had
just as we'll be smelted at furnaces In these
mountains near the coal fields. II is sta.
ted authoritatively that iron can there be
made at s. 25, and Col. J. B. KillebIew, in
one OF his official reports, Gays one Of the
richest deposits Of this ore occurs within
few hundred yards Of the Cumberland
Gap, and extends without break twenty
miles along the mountain half mile in
width. This ore" he says, "is raised
with powder and thrown out In large,
broad sheets. Ii Is here hard and massive.
The whole cost Of raising this ore at Gun.
berland Gap and depositing II in the
bridge loft ready for smelling is one dollar a
ton" This would indicate that II slS4,.
600 furnace can in Tennessee make $S4,-
600 In one year, II might near Cumberland
Gap with this ore at 81, make sls4.eOo
per annum.
The testimony Of experts aud Of the Of
ficials Of two States all runs in one direc.
tion There Is no longer any doubt that
with proper transportation facilities this
region would soon be one Of the most pro-
duotive in the country. Rich as are the
mineral resources Of the mountains, scarce
ly less valuable are the Primeval fOresis
Il Is somewhat astonishing TO be told, al
Prof. Proctor tells us, that "dfIy per cent.
Of the area Of Kentucky Is In primitive
forests, abOundiug ia the most valuable
timber," and he mentions five varieties
of oak, maple, ash, yellow poplar, black