Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-10-31


led Hotchkiss agree in pronounciDg a
continuation of the Pocahontas ttlat
Tonl and New River coking measures.
This immense forest is composed OF
the various varieties OF OAK ana OF pop
lar, a large percentage OF wnlcn aver
ages from four to six feet In diameter
and wild cherries from three to four
feet in diameter, and ash trees almost
eonaI in size to the poplars, black olreh
from two to three feet in diameter, besides
snruce and hemlock, hard and soft ma
ples. cucumber, linn, red beech, etc,
The black birch, which is very abund-
ant, is said to be preferaoie 10 emery DIS
a hardwood, being susceptible OF q
higher polish. The oaks are found
mainly on the lower elevations, but as
Won ascend toward the divide between
the Gauley and the GreenDrier you VIII
enter stretches of spruce locally known
as yew pinel, the ground oeneatn "nlcn
is never reached by ray OF sun or mOoh'
But there is no room in this prelln-
inarv sketch for more than mere sug-
qestion of the extent and quality OF the
timber body and coal field OF the Gauley
drainage. A virgin forest OF 500 square
miles or more, of which the West Vir-
Qinia and Pittsburg Railroad Company
owns about $50 square miles IN COM
uact belt, extends for 40 miles between
the Gauley and Greenbrier, covering the
drainages of the Williams, Cranberry and
Cherry rivers, which reach up close TO
the Greenbrier on the southeast Inere
is scarcely settler or squatter In THIS
whole area, which is trayersed only oy
bridlepaths and "trails" originally en-
gineered by the elk and buffalo, which
they say abounded here as late as 100
wears ago. So soon as clearlngs are
made a luxurious growth Of bluegrass
covers the face of the earth spontane-
ously, as in Fayette and Woooford cohn-
ties in Kentucky.
How extraordinary that Snch reg
ion. living in the very heart Of cis-Mis-
sissippi civilization, should nave re-
NAMED so long trackless wilderness!
1t might have remained so still longer
but for the energy and sagacity OF John
son n. Camden, which have been worth
millions and millions of dollars to the
State of West Virginia, and whose plans
for the development OF the Potts Creek
iron ore region will also add many mil
lions to the material wealth OF the "Old
Dominion" "But," as Rudyard Kip
ling has trick of putting 1t, THAT is
another story"
At the point on the Gauley to which
the West Virginia and Pittsburg is now
graded is a natural town site, where is
being built the railroad company's
famous $4,000, 00O-feet-a-year lumber
plant. This is at Lanes Bottom, In
Webster county, but the new town will
be called by some other name, possibly
Camden. On account OF the steepness
of the banks of the Gauley river, avail
able town sites are few and far between,
and this point is, therefore, one
which it is worth while for manufactur-
ers using wood as the main raw material
10 keep an eye upon. Here large dam
is being built with heavy boom piers to
catch and hold the timber which will be
hoated down the Gauley and its tribu-
taries. There are now 200 men at work
on this enterprise. In addition to its
own lumber plants, the railroad COM
pany will encourage the building OF
pulp mills, tanneries, furniture factories
and the like.
There is here a convenient supply OF
both hemlock and oak barks for tan
neries; while, with an abundance Of |
spruce linn, poplar and other soft woods,
with plenty Of pure water, the facilities |
for making wood pulp ore unrivalled. |
Referring again to the great saw n"in |
was Informed >Lat the rairoau company |
,an take from its own land $4,000, OOO |
feet year for thirty years, and by that
lime the first cutting will be replenished |
with second growths.
Apropos 81 new towns, one OF the most |
Inviting locations that know OF is the |
poInt on the Greenbrier river where the |
West Virginia and Pittsburg meets the |
and Ohio. To this point |
from the Gauley river, distance OF only |
"a miles, the final surveys have been |
made and the road is ready to be let to
contract. The site of the new town is
now known as Martins Bottom, and a
vote has been ordered in Pocahontas
on the question Of moving the
county seat thither. l did not see the
place, but am told that 1t is a beautiful
location.
Besides being on the outskirts of
great timber and coal field, it is ada
cent to what is supposed to be good iron
ore, in both the Oriskany and Clinton
formations of the Allegheny mountains.
am informed, moreover, that the
Chesapeake and Ohio Company are now
having a portion of this alleged ore re-
gion exploited under the direction OF
Mr.. Langdon, the geologist. "But that
is anotherstory."
The junction at Marlinton Is the re-
suit Of an agreement between the man
agement of the West Virginia and Pitts
burg Railroad and that Of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio. The latter road has
about 25 miles yet to build from its
Warm Springs extension, and the West
Virginia and PittSburg, as has been
stated, "a miles besides what is now
ready for track-laying, in order to
complete the connection from Pitts
burg, in Pennsylvania, through the
center Of West Virginia to Covington.
Much of this intervening country, now
a wilderness, will, so soon as the con-
nection is made, become the scene OF in
duStrial developments on scale seldom
witnessed in this country.
asked Mr.. Camden about the road
up Potts creek to open the 10000 acres
of strictly mineral lands owned by a
syndicate of which he is a mem
Der. That" he replied, will
be an independent road with
equal advantages to the Chesapeake q
Ohio and the West Virginia & Pitts
burg. 1t will be built in the near fu-
ture, and will be about 80 miles long,
from Covington on toward the divide
between Potts Creek and Big Stony,
which latter runs through Norfolk q