The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1890-10-03

three VEINS, on ABOUT inc angie vi IOTts
degrees, in oil those low mountains or low
hills, coming from Cumberland Gap to
Big Stone Gap. traced them from Cum
berland Gap, about twenty-thiee miles,
three veins at Cumberland Gap being
about twenty-threc inches and at the
distance of twenty-threc miles from
that point, they were about four and
onc-half feet in thickness. Now eight
miles down 'Walden's Ridge, in some
parts Of the ridge, those veins arc hor-
izontal; in other parts Of the same ridge
they are standing at an angle OF forty
degrees, and at that point the same three
veins that are twcnty-thrcc and twenty
four inches at Cumberland Gap are nine
fOet, and contain from IL per cent to 33
per cent Of iron. Here man can take
sledgc hammer and break pieces of the
rock and get an elaborate sample Of those
ores, and can see half million tons
at glance, These mines are lying
all along Walden's Ridge, and arc easily
reached by the S. A. & o. railroad, and
can be mined cheap. have seen the
ores in that section, and got an anal ysis
Of them. Of course ali ores arc dephos-
phoried by dolymitc limestone.
IF the Basic process is a success ut
Chattanooga, and l believe it is, Big
Stone Gap has many advantages over
Chattanooga. The coke is near ut hand,
and limestone is inexhaustible both for
dcphosphorizing it and smelling it. In
the Wild Cat Valley the brown and red
hematites, which We can make the finest
natural iron in the country out of, its
analysis being 81 per cent iron and l21}9a
per cent silica, and from to per
cent aluminium.
"To make Bcssemcr iron here, tho
standard Bcssemer iron, it will take
certain portion of Cranberry orcs, mixed
with the Wild Cat brown and red hcma-
titos. To make double Bessemer iron,
take the Cranberry orc by itself, and to
mako pig iron by tho Basic pro-
cess, tho same that is being made in
Chattanooga, wo can take all of the
cheapest ore We have here, which is
incxhaustible. The limestone here is
white marble limestone, as fine as the
Italian marble, SO that We will guarantee
to make any quality of iron at the Appa-
lachian Steel G. Iron Works that is ever
asked for, and when pig iron can be made,
any quality of it, all practical men know
that any kind of steel can be mado from
it.
We have five foot vein Of Bcsscmcr
orc within 500 feet Of the furnace, and
the fossil ore within 800 feet, and a twenty
five foot bed Of limestone within the same
distance.
The capitalists who have just visited
Big Stone Gap left pleasant impression
behind thcm, and, as they said, carried
delightful impression away with them.
Mr.. Z. B. Leisenrng, president of the
Virginia Coal & Iron Company, president
of the Pioneer Iron G. Steel Company, of
Birmingham, and was president of the
Connellsvilo Coke Company, which he
sold to Mr. Andrew Carnegie and H. c.
Frick for $3,O0O,O00; Mr.. X. H. Sayre,
vice-presdcnt Of the Lehigh Valley rail-
road, and president Of the Bethlehem
Steel Works, which recently put in &c.
100000 plant to cast tho heavy ordnance
armor and metal parts Of the navy which
is now being built, have agreed TO put up
at Big Stone Gap 400 ovens, representing
an expenditure Of 100000, with all the
costly accessories necessary for operating
them. They will begin at once to grade
the sites, put in the stone walls, etc, SO
that by the time transportation Is afford
ed which the railroad companies promise
shall not be later than the LIST of Deccm-
Der. when the fire brick can be delivered,
the ovens can be built very rapidly. They
promise to furnish the railroads 300 tons
of coal per day in December, and 1000
tons of coke daily ninety days thereafter.
They have given orders to their agents to
begin mining iron ore in the Wild Cat
valley Immediately.
Mr.. T. N. Dodson and j. S. Wcntz, two
well-known capitalists, also accompanied
Mr.. Leisenrng, and are largely interested
in Big Stone Gap. All of these gentlemen
express themselves us delighted with the
city and its prospects. They realize
that VIC have a combination of advantages
here which battles competition, and which
no location in tho United States or else
whero can boast Of They are conserva-
tive men, but clear-headed and sagacious,
and thew do not hesitate to invest their
money when they can find place for
it,
Mr.. Taggart, who is the manager of the
Virginia Coal & Iron Company is now
saving lumber rs fast rs possible for the
construction of cottages for his miners,
which will be strung along the beautiful
and fertile valleys of Callahan creek and
its branches. Mr. Taggart is also to
build a handsome residence in the city at
once, and move his family here.
1t seems that the demand for the coal
adjacent to Big Stone Gap is increasing
faster than it Gun be mined Pocahontas
is now supplying all the fast steamers that
sail from the Atlantic ports; and the
citizens of Bristol have found it impossi-
bic to get coal from either Jellico or Poca-
hontas, the company at Jellico having
orders for $4,000 cars already on their
books. All that is needed at present here
is adequate transportation, which will
soon be afforded by tho Louisville & Nash
Vile road aud the South Atlantic & Ohio
road.
Major O'Brien, the chief engineer of
the L. 4 N, says that his company will
push the construction OF tho branch up
Callahan creek as rapidly as possible; and
Major Bates, the vice-president of the
S. a. & O., promises to havo his line com
pletcd within two weeks to the fuel coal
fields owned by his company. Then he
will be able to supply all the needs of
Big Stene Gap, Bristol and other points.
The L. s N. is also going to build road
from its main line to the Appalachian
Steel and Iron Company's furnaces, par
allol to the S. A. & O., and on tho north
side. Engineer O'Brien also says that
the L. & n. railroad will, as soon as pos
siblc, construct another branch from its
line at Pincyille to Harlan Court House,