The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1889-02-07
a. Slight Awakening.

DSeu SOmPtnlHS dtU6T luis SLOW profess
that the appeals and seedlings the VIR
oINlAN has ut cred to our people, that
they seem TO be Impressed with the i'm
pOltapce of . aurton as business centre
and Augusta county rs possessing more
natural wealth Tran any other sinilar ex-
tent Of territory in the country. Within
The past few days ii ''boomingH feeling has
taken hold Of some of cur people, and IN
Ger It's influence their eyes have been
opened to HE marvellous We lth which
lies all around them. aud which OF years
las been ignored. if not secuted as OF DO
value. Indeed, political speaker within
the past twelve months, had The ignorance
and audacity to say that there was no iron
ore. in commercial quantities, III the Blue
Ridge-that it WAS III pockets aud would
not pay to work. and that it was mere
fiction 10 speak Of the mineral wealth of
Augusta county. That modern states
men did not know anything about what he
was talkiD & and probably could not tell
specimen of iron ore or manganese from
a sand bank or flint rock Whether he
had heard of Crimora or not, where four
ffths of the manganese of this country is
mined, we cannot say. or of DAvidia.
where the largest and most valuable de-
posit of specular or red hematite iron ore.
is found that has ever been discovered in
this country, or of the almost unbroken
evidences of the existence of iron ore and
Of
the Blue Ridge Oh its western slope. and
its spurs. 1t is question whether there
is another district in the United States,
of like area which contains as much min
eral wea th-and not a ton of it now eing
brought TO the surface except at Crimora.
For speigeIisen. for basic steel. or even
Bessemer steel judging from the nor -phos-
phoretic quality of the Dayidia ores, there
is no section Of the country that presents
greater advantages. Yet these valuable
and extensive mineral beds have lain idle
and practically unroticed for years and
years. No one. seemed to take enough in
terest in them to spend a few hun d. ed
dollars to have them thoroughly tested
and when some sanguine yet impoverished
believer would urge their Importance al d
value he was put down as ii crank. But
let a rosy prospectus of ii speculative syn
dictate, describing the wondrous attrac
tions of some distant point, such as Roam
oke, Birmingham. Florence or Buena
Vista, be presented, and forthwith crs re
would seize upon our people; down on the
paper would go their names. and down in
their pockets their hands, and then the
widest booming would commence upon
the scheme as having millions in it. y
Not word for their own marvellous
buried wealth. Nota movement to ex-
pose and draw attention to infinitely more
substantial riches. which everywheI e
abound around them. Thousands ard
thousands of dollars have left Staunton
and Augusta county under just such in
sane impulse, without a rational reason
to justify it. or a patriotic impulse to ex
cuse it.
We are gratifed to see, however. that
there has been within the past week or
ten days little change in the drift of the
current. a few gentlemen have had theil
thoughts arrested and brought down tC
their own county ard its possibilities. and
now there is talk Of a scheme to get up 9
boom at Waynesb0ro; to start a Rolling
Mill and a Wagon Factory at Stanton
and in fact, to do something to concen
trate energy and Means in some usefu
enterprise. This is a good feeling TO ell
courage. l is the right thing to encour
age. We hope it is not to be passing
impulse to die away after the first vbra
tion. We want staying qualities jus
now. We want courage aid nerve anG
determination. and a purpose to formulate
and digest and erecute. Not only in the
Glue Ridge range do practically mex
iaustible valuable minerals abound, but
also in the North Mountain district, there
are limitless fields of excellent brown he
MATTE iron ores. and We believe it will be
;sbundantiy proven anthracite coal. The
r'errol property. about eighteen miles from
stanton, is probably the largest body OF
brown hematite iron ore in the South OF
the same metallic richness. Buffalo Gar
is another valuable mineral interest
These are all on the line Of the Chesa
peake and Ohio Railroad. North River
Gap presents anthracite coal. with .sev
eral kinds of iron ore and limestone
along side of it, Twenty miles of rail
DAD would reach this at1luent minela
section ana bring Staunton in immediate
connection with it. Ii such propert,
we're located in any State North of the
Potomac, the means to construct the roat
.gould be subscribed in less time than i
axes to write this article. A few week
i,so. a gentleman interested in Il coal tiel(
in Southwest Virginia. went 10 New
y ork to present. It's advantages and t(
raise $1,000, 600 10 build railroad 81
miles to it, He met with the most fllt
ring encouragement. and left with tile
belief that the amount asked for would
he subscribed. Why could lot something
If the kind be done for the vastly more
valuable deposits of North River Gap.
Could The whole mineral wealth of Ala
uama, which is the assam ed basis Of The
booming craze that has carried to that
State 50 il.uch of the money of our citi
zens, and some Of cur people themselves
lie massed into one lump, it could be
buried out Of sight, either on Davidia or
Ferrol, and the space it would occupy
would scarcely be noticed in comparison
with the vast mineral wealth that would
be left around it. Ii it could all be
dumped into one pile il would, by con-
trast. be as the mole hill to the mount ain.
And yet there are those who have run af
ter the mole hill and lost sight of the
mountain.
Is it not about time that this insan-
ity were cured Is it not a reflection
upon the common sense aid the common
patriotism of our people, thai they should
turn their backs upon their OWL county
and State an own kitb and kin, AMI run
after a bubble, in a distant Stat. which
N y sc on Unrst and bring di appointment,
If MOI SET iJus loss to those WAC ave Leeu
delud ID !?
Let our ytulg men take hold of the
spl ndid opportunities and poss Utilities
which irvIte their energies and Cal acities
ii snt here at home. Let them del ermine