Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1888-09-04

for over 30 years, until recently, ant
have never sunk a drift, but actual!
shoveled up the coal from the sur
face. Twenty years ago l,2OO hand
were employed and the finest i'm
provoments of machinery put in. Ii
later years the owners died, leaving
their immense estate in the hands o.
a trustee, without authority to use 1t
The estate got into the courts for set
Element, aud to-day, perhaps, nearly
500, 900 worth of machinery stands
cold and idle without manager
among all lis owners, and just dar'
ing, and joking, and fretting every
passer by with the stupendous sug-
gestion: "Herc are millions of dol
lars, lying on the very bosom of the
ground, all around, and no man has
the ability and the wisdom to shovel
them up" Gentlemen, there 10 iron
for you until you can't rest, iron that
is said to have commanded on the
market from $3.50 to 81 90 per ton,
more than any other iron ever made
And all this within an average of ten
miles from Christian county, and
about twenty-five miles from Hop
kinsville, through which all roads
must come that lead to Trigg.
What do you say of the iron re-
sources of my neighborhood? Don't
you think they ought TO be devel-
oped? 1 will tell you: we want our
people to begin to think, and through
these clubs is to be expected tina.
"consumation most devoutly to be
wished"
What else? The whole western
part of the state is resting on the bos-
ON, as we may say, of the finest
health giving mineral waters. Sc
bree, and Dawson, and Cerulean, and
Criltenden Springs with their iron,
and sulphur, and magnesia, and salt
are almost enough to make one say
that Ponce de Leon missed 1t but
step when he went to Florida instead
of Kentucky, in his vain endeavor to
discover the fountain Of perpetual
youth,
But | call your attention to the
very interesting subject of hard oaks
and other hard timber for manufac-
turing purposes. What say you to
10000 acres of huge oak trees, skirt
ing and within the northern bounda-
ry of Christian county like wilder
ness? Such is the estimate given me
by the best posted, and perhaps the
most reliable statistician on the sub
ect in Hopkinsville. The entire &C
cage of woodland in Christian coun-
Y is given in round numbers at co.
100 acres. But this grand growth of
lard wood has never been utilized TO |
advantage. True it is, that we have
aw mills scattered through those
woods in great numbers; but they |
re simply destroying the finest tim
,ers or using it for the commonest
and we need to have our
wealth in this regard developed. OF
curse, what say of Christian is
argely, if not equally true of Muh-
and Caldwell counties-per-
laps of Hopkins and Logan (at least |
n measure). Don't you see that
omebody with money needs brains
enough to force him into Christian
Another thing: There never was
| better grazing country than Chris
ian county. Blue grass, it is true,
loes not grow here as it does in the |
,lue grass section of the state, and
yet il does grow, and is indigenous |
o the soil. And as for other grasses,
'lOver etc, no other county in the |
Union can produce them more album
lantly. But what do you find 4? The |
Ditifiul exhibit of 5000 tons of hay
'aved. 1t ought to he $4,000 tons
md not sprig less. But this indus
ry is not given a living chance. / |
know but one single man in all Chris
ian county who has had the shrewd-
less to make his living by the sweat |
If his hay mower; and he has had |
uch good time looking at the grass
,rOw, and visiting the girla, that he |
ias recently written a book declar-
ng that a man has right to as many |
wives as ROSTERS and other creatures |
AVE that live on grass. | may add,
however, that he is not married.
Now, | wish that some good stock |
men with capital would come down
md double their wealth raising stock
IN Christian county grasses. $4,000
horses, and mules, and cattle is too
mall an average for Christian coun-
y; $4,000 hogs is too small an an
iual growth for so wealthy county.
We ought to ship at least twice that |
lumber yearly. invite the atten-
ion of millers to the fact that, with |
Ill our corn and wheat, we have on
y two merchant mills in Hopkins
,ille, and only six in the whole coun-
y. | call your attention to the fact |
hat, with all our tobacco, there is |
rot tobacco factory in the county,
Except small one at Pembroke. All
ihippod away in hogsheads. Let
capitalists look, and see, and know |
heir opportunities, Only last week |
,ur Commercial Club saw this open
ng and set to work. The result was
| private stock company was formed,
capital unknown. If any of you |
want a good investment call on my
friend Bassett, and he'll tell you
what TO do with your money. With
all our limestone we have but one
imekiln in the county which does
business, and the capacity |
Of that is GO barrels per day. And |
they do say that it is better lime than
The celebrated lime made at Erin,
Tenn.
What else have we got? I'll tell
you. Thirty-five lawyers to make
the well sick hundred doctors to
make the eick sicker (and they don't
all make a support; four banks TO
save our money and keep us from
it; six warehouses to take
care Of our tobacco and two stem
meries; two splendid newspapers to
tell us the news better graded schools
than they have in Boston; two fret
class colleges; two foundries, one of
which, by the way, made a shipment
the other day of some articles to Eng
land three carriage factories a mag
ice factory; natural gas