Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-02-22

Oi5OurS W ylelu ltS treasures TO the
locomotive and the forge.
"Have you ever noticed that the
great American trunk lines run from
northeast to southwest, through the
richest portion of the country? 70
tho north the continent is crossed
most evenly by the New York Cen.
trail and Pennsylvania systems, but
their general trend is from the north
east to the southwest. The Balti-
more and Ohio and the Chesapeake
and Ohio, the Norfolk and Western
and the Richmond and Norfolk sys.
tens take their course southwest
from the Atlantic coast. Hence par
allelism and competition. But why
not have Il trunk line cutting across
all these and running from the south
east Atlantic coast across the new
mineral regions of the south, which
is the mineral depot of the world, to
the great northwest, the grain depot
of the world?
"This has become practically es
tablished fact by the award, yester
day, Of two and and hall million
dollar construction contract by tho
Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago
iiailroad Company, through the Mas.
snchusetts and Southern Construction
Company of New York, to Melon
aids, Shea & Co., of Knoxville, Tenn.
The entire contract for the construc-
ton of tho new trunk line from
Charleston, S. c., to the Northwest,
to the Massachusetts and Southern
Construction Company. The latter
sub let yesterday to McDonalds, Shea
" Go. the building of the road from
Rutherior, n. G., to the great coking
coal regions of Virginia and West
Virginia, which may now begin to
compete with the camel and coke
trade of Pennsylvania for the trade
of the world
Take n railroad map and see how
uniformly the great railroads run to
the Southwest from the Atlantic sea-
board. Now look mt Charleston, s.
c., and take birdseye view of the
new railroad route from TINT South
eastern port straight up to the North
west, through Western North Cnro.
lima, East Tennessee, Southwestern
Virginia and Eastern Kentucky to
the great grain region of the North
west The Charleston, Cincinnati
and Chicago road proposes to run
from Ashland, Ky, to Charleston,
and the Massachusetts and Southern
Construction Company are 10 build
it through 30 fur. From Sumter to
Charleston it uses the lines of tho
South Carolina railway which it will
eventually buy. Tue connections
with New York are made indirectly
by cutting the other great trunk sys
tenn by which traffic arrangements
are to be made, and directly by the
Old Dominion and Bay lines of steam.
ers and the seaboard railroad system
which connects directly with the
Charleston. Cincinnati and Chicago
railroad at Catalpa Junction. The
Bay line also gives directconncctions
with Baltimore ind Philadelphia.
"There is romantic interest Mt
tnching to the wonderful mineral
country which will be tapped now
for The first time. 1t is the heritage
of the Cherokee Nation, and the
story is that unpripcipled white men
bought it from the Cherokees for n
consideration of pots, pans and kot
tles. So ignorant were the Chero-
KEGS of what they were selling, and
so nrtful were the whites, that the
latter took from the side of one hill
enough iron to make all the pots,
pans and kettles mentioned i'll the
deed. and of such purity that the ore
itself WIS beaten into the required
utensils without so much rs putting
fire to it. l know it to be fact that
Mt Wilder's Forge; in that country,
Gen. Wilder takes out ore SO pure
that it requires no treatment. The
Indians undoubtedly used to make
their horse shoes out of the ore. The
hard woods found i'll that country
now are walnut, cherry, ash, white
oak, black walnut, red oak, white
pine and poplar. Some of the poplar
logs are from four to six feet in di