The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-01-31

generally are accredited with possessing
a goodly stock of that quality known al
go-ahead-ativeness.
With its railway facilities the cas-
with which raw material for manufac
turing purposes can be obtained-Staun
ton ought to become the great manufac
turing city of the Valley Mai. Hotch
kiss, whom We have heretofore quoted
says:
"We are satisfied that Staunton is tt
become one ofthe great iron-works cen
tres of the country, the seat of blast
furnaces, rolling mills, machine shops
stove-works, nail-mills, etc., ETC., be
cause the products of Meh establish
ments, all things considered, can b.
made more cheabLy here than at am
point in tile country outside Of this re
g'ion. Iron men, elsewhere, concur il
this view Mr.. w. Nj. Bowron, +. c. S.
estimates June, 1879 that the cost 0
construction OF a so to rs ton furnace
at Staunton will be $8o,I3o, and tina
such furnace can make iron here at A;
cost of $r2.Io per ton, which it car
place on the Ohio, including all charges
for SI6."
Maj. Hotchkiss further says:
"For the cheap manufacture of iror
and steel and all articles made from
these, in whole or in part, Staunton ane
its vicinity can challenge comparison
with any portion OF the United State.
that is accessible to markets; for it lie.
in the midst of vast beds of iron ores, O
several varieties, that are superior il
quality, practically inexhaustible il
quantity. SO situated that they can be
mined and delivered cheaply; fuel o
the purest character for all metallurgica
operations and remarkable for its heating
power, economy in working, and the
cheapness with which can it be mined
and delivered here. and equal in quaint
ity to any demand, can be had from the
100 miles of the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railway that west of Staunton passes
through the Lower and the Middle
Measures of the Great Kanawha coal
field"
Continuing to advocate Staunton's
claims the same authority adds
"THE TIMBER RESOURCES
of the country tributary to Staunton
make it one of the most desirable Of
places for the manufacture of all articles
into the construction of which wood
largely enters. No portion of the Uni
ted States can furnish greater variety
of woods of superior quality in greater
quantity, cheaper i'll price. and more
suitable for all manufacturing purposes,
than that included in a radius of 100
miles from the city. More than half of
of the country, as whole, along the
line of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway,
from and including the Blue Ridge, tor
$50 miles to the westward and 100
miles on each side, that is from 10000
to 10000 square miles, region two
thirds Of the extent of the State of Penn
sylvania, is still occupied by forests,
mostly Of original growth"
These facts-for facts they undeniably
are, are very suggestive, and certainly
deserve consideration from not only
capitalists elsewhere but from those of
our own citizens who have abundant
means and yet bewail the fact that
Stauntou is virtually without manufac-
lures.
THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY.
One of the great arteries of the Ma
TONS Commerce. railway that has
worked wonderful changes in the State
which it traverses-a railway whose
platform of policy appears to be as lib
eral as can be in most things affecting
communities and individuals-is the c.
& o. 1t has proved an important fac
tor in the development of mines, of fac
tories, of agricultural resources, of, in
fact, all that goes toward making a
country great and prosperous, and
Staunton is indebted to it for much of
its past growth and present prosperity.
Reaching, as the road does, from the
seaboard to Lexington, KY, and hav-
ing direct connections with other lines
leading to Cincinnati, on the Ohio, Chi
cago, on the Lakes, St. Louis and
Memphis, on the Mississippi, it directly
or indirectly taps the fairest, richest
portions of the land. 1t traverses agri-
cultural and mining sections; has built
up populous towns, cities and villages,
and has proved great and popular
highway Of traffic and travel, its rails
binding widely different sections of the
country each to the other in the strong
and lasting bands of unity of interest.
The city OF Stanton owes much to
the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway.
When the road reached here, early in
the sos, Staunton, then town of
scarcely more than two thousand inhab-
itants, felt the impulse flowing from rail
connection with the outer world, and
enterprises of every kind became i'm
bued with new life. Ever since, the
c. & o. has exercised a powerful inhu-
ence for good, and each passing year
only adds to the benefits accruing.
Staunton is located upon what is
known as the Eastern Division of the
road, this division extending from Cliff
ton Forge to Newport News. The di- |
vision superintendent is Mr.. A. H. |
Wood. A round-house and small re-
pair shops are maintained here, and the
crews of sixteen through and three To- |
cal freight trains make this their layover
place. The train service is most excel |
lent; there are three passenger trains
and an average of sixteen to eighteen
freight trains each way per day, and the
result is that the business at the Staun-
ton office, both in freight and passen
gers, is very large. Mr.. H. E. Sum-
merson, the company's agent at this
point, was unable to give us resume of
this business, his reports all being tabu-
lated at the general offices he did saw.
however, that the business of the road
at Staunton for the year 1883, had ae
gregated considerably more than for
1882, but how much more it was impos-
,ible to tell without the expenditure of
much time and labor in examining
oooks-a task we didn't feel justified in
Ealing upon him to undertake. The force
-equired by the company here consists
IF the agent, six clerks, two operators,
:hree messengers and eight laborers.
The freight house of the road here is
an excellent one; we are sorry that we
cannot compliment the company upon
he passenger depot. But we have word