New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-04-06

| there until midnight. Wherever ne goes he takes
| a stenographer, and his inmedla,g AIDS are clever
and capable. The town company, Oh course, mas
| given urtn TO Il score OF subsidiary companies.
stock and that OF the association are Doth listed
| OH the London Stock Exchange. and are more
closely watched just now lhan perhaps any other
We'll now" you say, this is an interesting
| story OIL the town" II haven't told you yet Oh the
pubic library, the evening hops the ronimaIu
notwithstanding suppers, or the great uomed
Casino, with its circular ballroom ana Dacne-
Ions club, Il but what about the great Industries
tnat are to keep it going? How many men are
employed at the factOneSp What Is tne coal
ana coke output How many tons or IRON are
Smeited and how many steel rails are forged every
day."
TO be candid, the lack of manufacturing activity
is'impressive Beehive colie-ovens are building. but
the present yield is Insignificant. mammoth TAN
shed is packed with chestnut oak-bark put inc
tanning has not begun. There are brlckyards
and planning mills, but their product is all used
by the town. In the outskirts rows OF little
red w0rkmen's cottages for workmen VINO maven
materiallzed. In an illustrated souvenir, WIN
pink covers and bronze lettering and blue SIX
ribbons, are picturesque process-plates OF
extraordinary car-works and bIewerles with a
hundred windows and tall chimneys, with ebony
sm0ke-plumes and the conventional accessories OF
pack wagons and bustling locomotives. III you
go out to look for them, however you find that
none are finished and some are not even begun.
The town is getting ready. For what? Mr..
Frank Watts, one of the propretors of the iron
and steel plant building, says that his invest
ment of something like million dollars was made
on the faith OF analyses of the associations coal
and iron. With these both easily accessible, he
expects next June to employ 500 men in producing
iron and steel at lower cost than any COM
petitors.
Have you made actual tests of the material ?"
| asked.
Practically none-that is. the Pineville coke
has been tested in the Alabama furnaces and found
excellent for smelling The only complaint was
that there wasn't enough of it.
The great hope of these people rests of course,
in t/e geographical association of the coal and
iron. The iron lies all in Tennessee and Virginia,
and will speak of it in letters from those States.
The coal, so far analysts can determine, is
high in carbon. low in sulphur and phosphorus,
and makes coke structuTally strong enough to
bear up the ore in the furnace without caking.
At fine Pittsburg testing works it has withstoOd
direct pressure of 1000 pounds. William VI:
Courts, an engineer employed by General Russell
Alger. says that the seams are laid down evenly
owe: large fields, making underground transporta-
ton easy, and that they are generally very free
from states s "a. and iron Pyrltes; Mr. nOyle the he
special train to the Mingo Mountain openings.
The seams there are seventy two inches thick The
coal is bright and breaks handsomely. Every
ounce between the floor and roof is removed.
The drift is almost horizontal and the coal is
brought out easily on mule-cars lwhah slope there
Is runs outward and is dumped Immediately by
chutes into cars on the track beneath. In Ala,
bama, on the contrary, the coal has to be lifled
from the mines. below the water level
and the mines pumped. This, and the superior
Alabama purchaser from POcahontas, which is
much further north. The Pocahontas ovens are
six months behind their orders, Moreover, this
is the nearest collng coal to Cincinnati and Louis
vile, also the nearest good co<ing coal to St.
Louis. line drawn directly east from Middle
borough TO the Atlantic and directly south TO the
Gulf Of Mexico embraces what Professor Proctor
calls the great coalless empire" and through the
Kentucky and Tennessee mountain passes that
entire rigon. rich in ore must hencefOrth draw
most of its fuel According to Mr.. Arthur's cal
oulatton, sheet of coal foot thick represents
900 tons TO the Some of the local seams
aggregate thirty feet in the different layers
which means 10000 tons to the acre. Besides
the cooking coal, there steam coal that will
bear transportation for long distances without
breaking. camel coal, splint coal. domestic coal
and other varieties. The association leases its
mines for twenty-five years a royalty. Ken
lucky companies whose lands adjoin theirs are
asking, by the way. for capital to make open
ings and build railroads. The Wattses have
contracted for daily delivery at their furnaces of
900 tons of coke. The South Boston Iron Works
which has also removed here, will begin this wear
making biz guns for the Army and Navy. So that
the prospect justifes the towns hopes Of future
prosperity. e. IL.