The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1891-08-28

Tat SHIPMENTS
November - 1880. G,a77 cars, distributed as ioew :
10 itsburgh, SEQ cars; 10 the West 1,ico cars u"
the East, l.;;l7 cars.
Bcsscmer ore is costing at !'ittsburg S7.36
per ton and nonBcsscncr ore costs at fitts-
burg from $i.G0 to 5000 per ton.
Non Besscmer ore will cost at Big Stone Gap
from 81 % to $3.50 per ton, and the BessemeI
ore from $500 to $;5 per ton.
Limestone will cost at least twice as much
at Pittsburg as at Big Stone Gap.
1t is said that 100 tons of Pocahontas coke
passes west through Bristol daily for furnaces
in the Alabama and Chattanooga districts.
This coke will cost from $3.75 to $4.50 per ton
at those furnaces.
These facts show the smaller cost OF coke
and iron ore at Big Stone Gap and require no
comment Coke can be delivered at the ovens
here much cheaper than these figures Indicate
and still aGord a large profit to the maker.
OPINION OF TWO ENGLISH EXPERTS.
Mr.. John ". Darby, of Wcxham, Eng, and
Mr.. L. Monks, of Warrington, Eng, members
of the British Iron & Steel Institute, recently
visited Big Stone Gap. Mr.. Darby is young
man, but has already reached prominent po,c
sition among the iron and steel producers OF
England. lie inherits his aptness for these IN
dustrics from ancestors who have been prom
incnt in them for Il century. His grandfather
was the first TO make iron from unlocked coal,
and lis own plant, located near Chester, was
thc first TO use successfully the basic process
for making steel. Mr. Monks is one OF the
oldest and best known Of the practical iron ana
coke men of England.
"Thc very things wanted TO see are mere
did not care to see the manufactures IN opcr-
alton for we have those at home as numerous
and rs 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 are rapidly APP
preaching it. What those of us who mean
i husincss wished to see in America is just what
have seen to-day at Big Stone Gap; as line
coke as have ever seen in England, with iroh
ores only two miles away, and limestone pc
tween, together with water power and railroads
This is a combination that is bound to make
you Great here. Ihavc ncrc7 seen it eQn0ted
| elsewhere. Your coke is the best have seen
in America. The brown ores we inspected to-
day arc admirably adapted to the basic process.
! OF course, your proximity to the magnetic ores
| ut Cranberry is a great card in your favor, but
YOU will not need that to make the possibilities
of this point simply incalculablc. we nave
| been over a large portion OF the Southern min
cral belt, and | regard this as the best point
we have seen for the manufacturing OF basic
steel, OWING 10 lhc Iu'ti'! "' 81; :;
your brown ores and their proximity TO tnis
coke. have enjoyed my day here greatly
and hope can return soon"
Mr.. Monks spoke in the same strain saying
he had been practical producer of coke and
iron for forty years, and that nc had never seen
better cokc and the iron ore, both brown ana
red we're fine. lie thought the best card Tor
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.
| TIMBER.
Prof Proctor in his report says OF the tihl,
her: "About 80 per cent of the area included
in the Appalachian coal -feldin Southwest Vir-
ginia, West Virginia, and Southeast Kentucky
IS covered with forest of valuable hardwoods-
oak, yellow poplar hickory, etc. The l Black
Mountains, Immediately north OF Big Stone
Gap, arc heavily tmbered from base to sum
nit with as magnificent forests as have ever
| seen.