Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-11-04
A BUSINESS OUTLET.
Completing Slackwater to Morgan
town Will Help PittSburg.
IRON ORE DEpOsITsON THE CHEAT.
Opening Up Trading Country Rich in
Minerals and Live Stock.
BALTIMORE BEATEN IN THE SHUTTLE.

| water in the Monorgahela, which was COM
menced some 40 years ago, is about finished
to Morgantown, DISPATCH reporter had
conversation with John w. Armstrong, .
West VirginiaH, who lately made tour of
the country in and about Morgantown, and
the picture he paints of the future OF that
section is at once encouraging to the people
who have so patiently waited these many
years to have facilities for trade with the
! outside world. Among other things he
said: "The country is rich beyond de-
scription in mineral and timber. and not
until now do the people feel that an oppor-
tunity offers for putting upon the market
the finest ore, timber, coal and farm prod
ucts this section can produce.
"When do 1 think navigation will be
opened? Well that is question the en-
gineer in charge of the work will not answer,
and you would hardly expect an answer
from me. But 1 was talking with Captain
Adam Jacobs, who has been steamboating
on the Monongahela for more than 20 years,
and l will answer your question with his
conversation. He said he had been very
deeply interested in the completion of Lock
No. s. and watched the work very closely.
| While he could get no definite date from the
engineer in charge, he would stake his repu-
tation as a judge of public Improvements
that he would have the James G. Blaine at
the Morgantown wharf not later than
the 18th of November. Now, he said, the
lock is completed, the gates and all the ma
chinery are in place. The dredgeboat is at
work cleaning out the channel about the
pier and removing refuse accumulated in
the construction of the work. So you may
! 4 Al.
a large excursion to Morgantown not later
than the 18th inst
"Well, now, about the excursion. All I
know is that he said there were hundreds of
people all along the river, and especially at
Brownsville, who are anxious for the first
boat to 60 up, and they will be on board. OF
course there will be music. 1t would not
be fitting to enter the staid old city of Nor
gantown with the first boat, and excursion
lists from every town along the river from
Pittsburg there, without brass bands, flying
flags, firing of cannon and other demonstra-
tions of enthusiasm. What will the people
of MorgaDtown do?
ARRANGING FOR A BLOWOUT.
"Well, if you go you will witness genuine
enthusiasm on their part. Arrangements
have been made for some time to give the
ton imaginable. The town will be in holi-
day attire; thousands of people will come to
the city in carriages, wagons, horseback, on
foot and any way to get there. Parades,
speeches, a barbecue, with natural gas as
the fuel for roasting purposes: drills by the
cadets, and in fact, the events of the day
will follow one another so close that one will
not have an opportunity to get weary. 1t
will be great day in the history of Monon-
gahela county, and none realize it more than
the citizens of that county and surrounding
country.
Eyes. In many WAYS Pittsburg will be
the gamer. This city is the natural metrop-
oils for that section of country, and what
now goes to Baltimore will naturally come
to Pittsburg. Wheeling has some trade
with that section, but Baltimore has the
bulk of the trade. With the waterway
opened neither Baltimore nor Wheeling can
begin to compete with Pittsburg Freights
on the Baltimore and Ohio road are so high
and SO irregular that Morgantown merchants
and live stock dealers will hardly give them
passing thought in the future. It was a
case of necessity before, now the river will
be a saving on freight and greater conven-
fence. l have heard merchants say that
they have had goods ten days and two weeks
on the way from Baltimore, while now goods
shipped from here in the afternoon will be
on the wharf in Morgantown next morning.
And do you suppose for a moment thatther
is any question as to the source that large
community will come to for supplies,
especially when Pittsburg manufacturers
and wholesale dealers can quote prices
about as low as Baltimore.
81 said a large community, and 1 will en-
large upon that, too. 1t is one of the largest
and most progressive along the river.
make that assertion because know whereof
speak. Morgantown, a few years ago, and
Morgantown to-day, are not to be compared
in business and financial sense. In addi-
ton 20 the national banks, there are three
or four private banking houses, and while
there is nothing compulsory upon them to
publish statements, the national bank state
ments show an increase of more than 100
per cent, and 1 was informed by directors in
the other banks that the increase in their
deposits would show equally we'll. Besides
better system of management on the part
of the farmers, in directing their attention
to stock of all kinds and the best suited for
that mountainous region, the oil and gas
discoveries have thrown many thousands of |
dollars in the country. and also the vast |
coal and iron deposits that have been pur-
chased by speculatcrs, in view of water and |
rail communication with the Pittsburg |
markets.
A RICH IRON ORE SECTION.
''Take the Cheat river section, which will |
soon have a railroad connecting with q |
permanent water route and see the vast de- |
posits. The ore shows along both sides OF |
the Cheat river, which stream cuts through |
it for two miles. Above it is the big vein
of limestone and the four and seven foot
vein of coal. At the middle of the two
miles in which the ore is seen above the
water the hill is !, $50 feet. Here the vein
is about 500 feet above the river bed.
Above the ore is sand rock, then limestone,
next the four-foot vein of coal, and above it
the seven foot vein. Parties who have come
here from distance to examine it found the
ore vein Is feet thick, with no partings or
other interruptions, and it assayed at 20 per
cent. There are three veins of clay; the
black clay, the pot clay, used for making
glass pots, and the regular fire clay, of a
fine quality. The whole section abounds in
the most valuable of minerals, and Morgan
town will be the natural port for the distri-
button of these minerals to lower markets.
81 was informed by Mr.. pickenpaugh.
one of the oldest merchants in the town,
that Sc towns and villages draw upon Nor
gantowu for their annual supplies, and that
means that Pittsburg merchants will feed
ana clotne just tnaJ many ao0ltlOnal people, |
now enjoyed by Baltimore and Wheeling.
No doubt the merchants of this city are
awake to the occasion and will profit by it,
as Pittsburg people jump upon every avail
able opportunity and let none slip by, hence
the secret of the immense wealth of the CITY.
"Other instances OF the increased wealth
of the county may he mentioned, among
them the revenues of the suspension bridge,
which was built some 80 years ago, and
never has paid dividend to the stockhoId-
ers, while this year learn from one of the
directors handsome dividend will be de-
clared This is principally attributed to