The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1891-03-20
Cost OF coke at coanrlsville necemi,cr. 1880:
'arnoee coke, Sz. Ter ;cn. Foundry coke. %
freight sa,es from Councils Cost a, these p

|
| Baltimore, ..,....,.,. FL Az 4G2
Boston, .............. 400 6ls s.G
| Total shipments from Connesvlllc for week ending
November D. $780, e,97 cars distributed as follows
TO Pittsburgh 1850 cars; to the West. 400 cars
| the East, 1,Jl1 cars.
| BcSscmcr ore is costing at Pittsburg 81 Sc
| per ton, and non-Bcsscmcr orc costs at Pitts
burg from $500 to 5000 per ton.
| Non Besscmcr orc will cost at Big Stone Gap
from 81 .25 to $3.50 per ton, and the Besscmcr
ore from $500 TO $3.50 per ton.
Limestone will cost at least twice as much
at pit.sburg as at Big Stone Gap.
| 1t is said that 700 tons of Pocahontas coke
passes west through Bristol daily for furnaces
in the Alabama and Chattanooga districts.
This coke will cost from So rs to ST. 80 per ton
at those furnaces.
These facts show the smaller cost Of coke
and iron orc at Big Stone Gap and require no
comment. Coke can be delivered at the ovens
here much cheaper than these figures indicate,
and still afford a large profit to The maker.
Mr. }. X. Taggart manager of the above
| company, says he will deliver Grst-class fuel
coal at the depot at Big Stone Gap at from Sill
20 ST. per ton, if not less, and the company's
coke which Mr. McCrcath's ANALYSIS shows is
the finest in the world at $500 per ton. Coke
not quite so good in Wales sells for SIS per ton
| This statement, from so responsible a source,
should be considered by the manufacturing
| world. There is no spot on the globe where
such fuel can be supplied at such price. Add
to this the fact that we have superior iron ores
all around us, and in incxhaustibe quantities,
the finest timber north of the tropics, loca-
| ton that can not be surpassed, and three rail-
road systems ccnterlng here.
OPINION OF TWO ENGLISH EXPERTS.
Mr. John ". Darby, of Wexham, Eng, and
Mr.. T. Monks, Of Warrington Eng, members
Of the British Iron Il Steel Institute, recently
visited Big Stone Gap. Mr.. Darby is a young
man, but has already reached prominent po-
sition among the iron and steel producers Of
England. He inherts his aptncss for these in
dustrics from ancestors who have been prom
incnt in them for n century. His grandfather
was the first TO make iron from knocked GOA,
and his own plant, located near Chester was
the first to use successfully the basic process
for making steel. Mr.. Monks is one of the
oldest and best known of the practical iron and
coke men Of England.
II am greatly delighted with what have
seen in Big Stone Gap and vicinity, and am
under lasting obligations to Mr.. Proctor for
bringing us here, and to Gen. Ayers for his
courtcsies to us. | speak the sentiments of a
large majority of the visiting members of our
British Institute when say that what l wan
ted to see most in your great country was the
rich deposits ofiron ores and cooking Goals here
in the South, where they are as yet practically
undevelopcd.
"Thc very things wanted to sec are here.
| did not care to the manufactures in oper
aton for VIC have those at home as numerous
and as nearly perfect as one could wish to see,
although must say that have been greatly
surprised and pleased at the great concerns we
saw in the North. Their equipments are not
so complete nor their methods so economical as
ours in England, but they ure rapidly APP
preaching it. What those Of us who mean
business wished to see in America is just what
| have seen to-day at Big Stone Gap; as fine
coke as have ever seen i'll England with iron
ores only two miles away, and limestone be-
tween, together with water power and railroads.
This is a combination that is bound to make
YOU great here. have ncrerSccn it eQuu{ed
elsewhere. Your coke is the best have seen
in America. The brown ores we inspected to-
dav are admirably adapted to the basic process.
OF course, your proximity to the magnetic ores
at Cranberry is great card in your favor, but
you will not need that to make the possibilities
of this point simply incalculable. We have
! been over large portion Of the Southern min
cra belt, and | regard this as the best point
we have seen for the manufacturing of basic
steel, owing to the quality and quantity of
your brown ores and their proximity to this
coke. | have enjoyed my day here greatly,
and hope can return So0n.'
Mr.. Monks spoke in the same strain, saying
| he had been Il practical producer OF coke and
iron for forty Years and that he had never seen
better coke; and the iron ore, both brown and
red were fine. He thought the best card for
the future Of Big Stone Gap in the iron indus
try was the advantage it had over any other
place he had seen for the production of steel by
the basic process.
Prof. Proctor i'll his report SAYS of the tim
Der: about 80 per cent of the area included
in the Appalachian coal tieldin Southwest Nir-
oinia, West Virginia, and Southeast Kentucky,
IS COVERED with forest of valuable hardwoods-
oak, yellow poplar, hickory, etc. The Black
Mountains, Immediately north Of Big Stone
Gap. are heavily timbcred from base to sum
nit with as magnificent forests as have ever
seen. The following, from actual count and
measurement which made of the trees on five
acres on the southern slope of the Big Black, n
few miles northeast of the Gap, will give an
idea of The forest Of this region;
Is yellow oplars, ranging i'll diameter from 20 in TO
20 in.
l7oaks, diameter from Is in. to 40 In.
$ ch.stnut>, diameter from j. in. 10 40 in.
) hickory-, diameter from is H. to ii iii
81 hard n!aIl,s diameter from II IN. t" 40 H.
Il Inns diameter from II III. 10 80 III.
| - buckeyes. diameter from u in. to ;6 in
black waruts, diameter. 81 in. and So in
lash, diameter. Is H.
Bv the courtesy of Mr.. Charles I. Ballard.
president Of the Interstate Investment Com
panv, of Louisville, we are enabled to give lun-
Der men abroad an idea of the amount OF timber
that crows on our mountains. The table be-
low represents the work of eight men for ten ten
DAYS, counting the trees on Il body of 1000
acres of his lands on the Black Mountains of
Harlan county, kentucky, and Wise county,
Virginia. Ga large part of which is tributary to
Big Stone Gap.) ItmuSt be noted Mot TIE t1
d:dmctcrof tie trees is mcntto"cd us Mc
mi7tinlnm diumcter, 0nd int almost dft 81
item Of course, Wiit r"n n"ch io'Ycf.
Inc!ic, in
Trees. diameter.
Walnut. - :, 49,, 80
Cherry 80. So 80
Birch .............4. oSo -
| G..I- It'll