The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-04-23
Enferprising Men Hayc Doneiu a
Fourteen Foot vein-UnriyaIed RniI.

What Enterprising Men Hayc Doueiu ,
Fourteen Foot vein-UnriyaIed unil
rOnd Scenery. E7
Special Correspondence gtue ElhIigacer.
PIEDMONT, W. Va, April lS.-shortl,
after stepping of the cars, l met and shoot
hands with a gentleman l had not seen fol
yeara. IN the ours, OF u conversation
no said, "iou knew Piedmont In its palmJ
days." Alter looking the town over l wa
willing to agree with him, for twelve year
have changed this town and for the worse
Yot It Is hard to understand why thi.
should DO the cage, especially now. Pied
mont was always q coal depot, but 1t /.
more 60 at present than ever. A large in,
vestment has been made, and the largest
coal plant In the State feeds the town.
can remember years ago when coal used IL
be talked, and q new railroad to the new
coal fields speculated upon and dreamed
about. Tho spcculations are facts and the
dreams realities. The West Virginia Cen.
trail & Pennsylvania Railway have solved
the problem, and daily long coal trains
come rolling into the town.
Worked up principally by Hon. Henry
g. Davis, the company embraces the names
Of some Of the leading men OF the country.
Henry G. Davis Is president OF the corpora
ton, and in the Board OF Directors | find
tho names Of Alex Shaw, James G. Blaine,
W. II. Barnum, John A. Hsmbleton, j. N,
Camden and A. p. German. One feels
somewhat like dashing through an ex.
United States Senate, as he hears the
brakeman call out ChaiEse, Blaine, Win
dom, &c with as much n~onchslace and
ir%dlstinctness, as II these names were
composed Of 30 many letters jumbled to.
Rether, without any regard to the pages
they I'LL in the history OF the country.
SPLENDID SCENERY.
The road itaeli rivals in scenery the
B. 4 0. or Central Pennsylvania, always
going up the mountaius, but following
curvee, that years ago would have been
deemed Impractical. Indeed the agent at
Blaine gravely informed me tho curves
were 30 sharpthat only a certain number OF
cars could be pulled on any one train.
Because If more than the required number
were on, the engine would run into the
hind cars. The required number was
pulled the days l rode and l RETAINED
from intimatiDg that the agent at Blaine
was closely related to Baron Munchausen.
The roads, now being finished to Fairfax
Stone, forty-six miles from Piedmont. It is
probable that the Coal 4 Iron railway will
join it here, and from Fairfax find an out.
let either ut .Strausburg or Winchester, or
both. This road will undoubtedly be
hr,tlS orI oman tngthn ,,o~Ir,k ,1r., Al.
richest coal and iron lands Of West Viz.
ginia.
=. STEEP ISCLISEs.
The mines at present opened are the No.
l and . Big Vein in the Elk Garden re-
gion. Kindly heraldsd by Capt. George
W. Harrison, Superintendent OF the W..
Va.,C @. & r, whose kindness and generos.
ity only increase with years, and Col. T..
i. Davis,whoso kindness l remember, l
took the train for Elk Garden early one
morning. At Shaw We switched Of and
ran two miles up q grade OF 159 feet to the
mile, to the tipplc Of No. l. Superintend.
ent A. G. Ramling received me here and
took the greatest caro- possible OF me for
the three days | spent with him. The in.
cline to No. l mine is 1900 feet long, rugged
with the latest machinery. From the Top
Of the incline TO the mouth of tho mine ia
u distance OF one mile. The coal is hauled
this mile On aIarrow gauge road by steam.
No. . mine is q mile below No. i and is
reached by an incline 1852 feet long, sim.
ilarly rugged to No..1.
A BIG SEAM.
The mines are managed in a manner be.
fitting the vein. Two tracks run through
the main entry, and at a distance Of LOCO
feet crrss entries are driven on each side.
The coal lies in q seam from fourteen
feet to sixteen feet thick, fourteen feet be-
ing about the average thickness mined. 1t
is Il colt, bituminous coal, easily mined
without any shooting, used for steam pur-
poses and finds a market in the East. The
miners are paid fifty cents per ton, and an
average days work is from s. so to s. 90.
The mine cars hold two tons, and a person
can readily ride on top of q loaded car
without iear Of having his head broken. In
parts Of the mine the drainage is not the
best, but is being rapidly remedied. The
mine being so new, this could be expected.
The ventilation is good, and by natural
openings. According to Mine Inspector
Veazy's Instructions, though, furnaces will
be built. The average output OF the two
mines is from thirteen to fifteen hundred
tons per day. Two hundred and forty
miners are employed, twenty horsts and
twenty drivers. William Bycrs is mine
boss Of No. l mine, and Isaiah Fenton Of
No.. The coal is free from impurities,
containing only n seam Of slate from two
to three inches thick.