Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1891-07-03
A VISIT TO BAKERTON.

ker, the enterpr1slng superintendent
of the Washington Building Lime
Co.'S Works, gave us "a pleasant sur
prise by inviting us to see the works
in operation at Bakerton and Keller,
and also to visit the Virginia Iron Ore
Banks.
Fancy yourself in what was lime
stone field less than two years ago,
but now dotted over with tenant
houses of the purest white, Qor the
lime burners are not like the proven
bal shoemakers' wives a thrifty store,
the buildings in which the works are
carried on, buzzing machinery, large
kilns and the steam drills resistlessly
boring into the excellent limestone
rock of which there are apparently
ineXhaustible veins, and you have
slight idea OF what the place is. But
this, after all, is but slight one; for
one must take a peep into these places
and have the operation Of the ma
chinery explained to enjoy it thor
oughly.
All of the machinery of the place is
moved by the same boiler, "a thirty
horsepower affair the steam passing
through iron pipes to engines sta
toned at various points where it is
needed. The stones are lifted from
the quarries by cable cars run up steep
inclined planes, and are dumped attbe
mouths of four furnaces or kilns.
These furnaces are kept going night
and day, and at least twenty-five car
loads of lime are shipped weekly on
the B. & q. cars which come up to the
works for loading.
Slaves and hoops are brought to
Bakerton by the car load, where they
are made into barrels for the lime.
Among the energetic coopers who
were so busily plying their trade, we
found one sufficiently skilled to play
tune with his hammer as he put the
hoops on the barrels.
The water from which the steam is
generated is supplied by an artesian
well from which it is lifted by steam
engine and stored in a large tank to
be drawn on as needed.
While the company's chief business
is to make building lime, and that of
superior quality, they also make a
coarser grade. which is an excellent
fertilizer and as lasting as excellent.
The best field of corn in this section is
one Of Mr.. w. }. Moler's, on which he
has used this lime. Farmers would do
well to consider its virtues as a fertili-
Ger.
From the energetic and systematic
way in which everything is moving in
these works, one must infer that Mr..
Baker is, in spite of his youth, the
right man in the right place.
But there is other business going on
at Bakerton besides the lime business.
That is mercantile. This business,
which is in the hands of Messrs. Stri-
der & Engle, is conducted at this
point by the latter wide-awake and
accommodating gentleman. Mr.. En-
gle is obliged to be at his post early
and late to keep up with his trade, for
Bakerton is a busy little place and he
is one of the busiest men in it.
On one of these hay mornings
when rain threatens, but does moth
ing more, a ride of two and half
miles on the truck brought us to Kel-
Ter, or Engle's as it is called by the b.
& o. r. r.
Perhaps the most attractive feature
of Keller is the crusher, a powerful
machine kept in constant operation,
crushing stone for ballast for the road
named above. This crusher, which
is fed with stones at the rate Of a car
load every three minutes, brushes
them with as much ease as if they
were egg shells-an ease so striking
that one is strongly impressed with
the thought that real power is always
quiet.
One who wishes to visit the Wash
ington Building Lime Works at this
point will find Mr.. Charles Thomas,
the obliging overseer, warm-hearted
in his welcome and interesting in his
explanations.
Keller was named by Mr.. Charles
Keller, a thrifty business man, who
has lime works in operation quite
near to those mentioned above. As
the main line of the b. 4 o. k. r.
passes through these lime works and
gives abundant opportunity for trans
portation, it makes them flourishing.
West Virginia is noted for the rich
ness and variety of its mineral re-
sources, and the people of this section
seem awake to the fact that it is time
to develop her hidden treasures.
At Keller, too, we find flourishing
store in the hands of Messrs. Osbourn
g. Ronemous. These gentlemen,
though there are two Of them, find
themselves kept on the move to keep
up with the large trade that falls into
their hands.
A run back to Bakerton, and
another run of a mile and a quarter
on switch, brought us to the Vir
Iron Ore Banks, so called ibecause
they were in operation years before
the Civil War and consequently before
West Virginia became a separate
State. What was once one Of the Old
Dominion's proud mineral laden hills,
for which she is so famous yet, is now
large deep chasm from which the
valuable ore yielding as much as