The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-06-21

Tennessee. John Fl. Imam has beea
buying these coal lands for several years.
De has paid from 50 so TO 50 per acre.
That is about the price Of toe lands held by
the farmers to-day, and there are plenty of
them in the market The veins are easily
opened. They run through the mountains
at such hight that they drain themselves
The first effort TO develop the wealth of
the valley was made in 1873 by a party of
Englishmen. They had alighted upon the
coal fields and the iron beds. They bought
considerable property and founded a town
on the Tennessee river. about SIX miles from
the mouth of the valley. 1t is to-day known
as South Pittsburg. Here they began the
erection of blast furnaces. The protector
of the enterprise died very suddenly before
the furnaces were fairly at work The
president of the company was soon
after killed by an explosion. The i'm
mense property then passed into American
hands South PittSburg quickly became
the center OF operations IN the valley. 1t
now contains over 4 coo inhabitants. It has
three blast furnaces, q stove factory, a
water pipe factory, foundry, hoe and tool
works, pressed brick and terra Gotta COM
pany, a planning mill and two saw mills
The slope and the valley are dotted with
tasty residences the purest water is sup
piled. and the glow of electric lights is seen
at night. A thousand men are enl-
ployed at the furnaces and sad iron factory.
The furnaces produced 10000 tons of pig
iron last year and toe sad iron factory
5000 tons of irons. The brick works have
a capacity of 15.000,00O brick per annum,
and the pine works can turn out l., 900 tons
of pipe year. Their owners employ $50
hands. About $50 men earn a living at the
stove works. They can turn out $4,000
stoves year. The tool works and plaaing
mills afford employment for $50 more
hands. Last year the railroad company
handled 900 tons of freight, and 81, 900
tons was fioated down the 1enne see river.
A few miles above the town the railroad
forks. One branch runs to the Inman iron
mine and the other to the Whitwell coal
mine. They are the only mines as yet in
operation. Their output is consumed by
the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company, who
own the furnaces at South Pittsburg. |
visited both mines. At the iron mine the
most of the work was done by convicts, 50
per cent. of whom were colore6 They wore
striped clothes, and were quartered in a
stockade near by. The state government
receives $4,000 year for the labor of its
convicts. The contractors feed and clothe
the prisoners. Guards are posted around
the mines and at the stockade, and very
the mine is the color of red
chalk. The ore itself bsars this color. The
air is filed with dust of a simila color. 1t
gives the negroes in1ethe mine a coppery
tlnga. Even the birds get this color | saw
quail running along the Ssquatchie bot
toms with darkred plumage The air is
full of the dust, and an old hen and chick
ems were the color of the quail. The coal
mine at WhitweH waS aiso viste |. The al
is brought down from the Inountaia by an
inclined plane. Il is screened at the foot of
tha ralo and lie dtfr11r,ad in f,Nr
portation. Much of it, however, goes into
ovens aud is turned into coke. There are
$50 of these ovens at the base of the noun
tain. Others are being constructed. The
coke is of an excellent quality There is a
demand for it in Mexico and Colorado for
smelling silver ore Its owners claim that
it is superior to the Birmingham coke be-
cause it contains less sulphur
Fortunes in coal and iron, however, are
not the only fortunes to be made in the
Sequatchie valley. TIE whole count " is
densely wooded. Bass, oak and walnut
trees grow in profusion. The sound # the
circular saw is frequently heard Young
Fitzpatrick. son of well-known builder in
New York, has sensed tie situation, and is
already reaping a fortune. Be has bought
several hundred acres of la I'd at Bridge
port, the entrance of the valley, and erected
a great saw mill thereon. Night and day Is
UQ6 Inlu fululuS. lnolOSS are DpTu6 10 IL DIV
the Sequatchie and Tennessee rivers, and
scores of cars leave Bridgeport every day
laden with the lumber. Bridgeport is tie
natural portal of the valley, and everything
that the valley produces must pass through
it. The land is increasing in value hourly,
and the foresight of the young man will
evidently produce marvellous pecuniary re-
suits.
Nor is this all. The extraordinary rich
ness of the valley is giving Chattanooga a
business boom. The city is outgrowing its
clothes. Spectators appear to be as plenti-
full as fire flies in late June. Every branch
of industry is thriving. Queen Anne cot
tages are appearing on every elevation, and
the tinkle of the horse-car bell is heard in
all the outskirts. New stores are opening
daily, and at night the city is lighted by the
flames that issue from the chimneys of iron
and rolling mills. All its industrial arteries
are alive with energy. Every thing is grow
ing apace, and the goose really hangs high.
Its banks are thriving, its manufactures
growing, and its newspapers are flied with
telegraphic news. Within ten years it bids
fair to have at least a, 900 inhabitants.
| saw enough 20 convince me that the
Sequatchie is destined to be another great
mining and na1ufactI1rih center in the
south. The opening OF the Muscle Shoals
canal in September will give it a water out
let by the Tennessee river, while its railroad
facilities in five years bid fair to equal
these of any southern mining district. More
than this, it is claimed that pig iron IN be
made cheaper than in any otner part of the
south. William NJ. Bowron, South Pitts
burgh expert,a year ago, in ameeting of the
American Institute of Mining Engineers,
demonstrated that {, 240 pounds of pig iron
can be made in the Sequatchie valley for
$40 80. Whether this is so or not, it seems
certain that the fortunes to be made in that
valley for the next twenty years may
eouaI in number and magnitude those al
ready CLEANED in the Alabama and other
southern districts. AMOS j. CUMMINGS.
Henrv--Yes, Carrie, l love you with all