The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1891-12-03
Notes by the Wayside.

fare or the comprehensive improvements
that have been made in the carrying ca
pacitv and equipments of the road. AT
almost every station some new enter
prise evidences the progress of the
country tributary to this line, and the
multiplied freight trains, side-tracked
to make way for the Flying Dutchman,
loaded with coal and coke and ore and
iron and timber, are object lessons, preg
nant of information as to the wonderful
resources that this road has to draw
upon and the immense wealth possessed
by the two Virginias. From Staunton
to Huntington there are continuous EVIL
dences of the development that is going
on and the great future that awaits the
section through which the Chesapeake
and Ohio passes and the road itself.
There is no region on the globe that can
offer such inducements for the profitable
investment Of capital, and there is noie
whose progress is more rapid and wealth
more assured than that which inter
yenes between the points named. Inc
testimony of this is in the immense
freiyhtage of the railroad, most OF which
has been created within the past ten
wears and which is but in its infancy.
A decade hence aud it will be beyond
the capacity of a double track to accom-
modate it. Present facilities are mad
equate to the work, yet improvement in
transportation agencies are multiplying
every day, while the business is increas-
ing beyond the additional facilities pro-
vided for it, 1t is a constant strain upon
the resources of the road to meet the
demands of the enterprises that are bes
ing inaugurated and the capital that is
being applied to expose the abundant
riches which abound on every side. The
furnaces have not yet been supplemented
by finishing industries; the timber is be-
ing transported in the natural state; the
ores and coal in the first stages OF de-
velopment When these resources shall
be consumed by shops and factories and
industries of various kinds, located at
the point where the crude product is
furnished. as will be the case in the near
future, some idea may be formed of the
traffic that will be created and transpor-
tation that will be necessary. 10 meet
these prospective conditions, other lines
will be constructed. Avenues to the
East by the Camden and Davis systems,
and to the South and the Southwest by
the projection of the Norfolk and West
ern to an intersection with the Chesa
peake and Ohio. will become necessary,
and these improvements will be made as
knowledge becomes more prevalent of
the vast resources to supply traffic. Buff
falo Gap, Ferrol, Goshen, Longdale,
Clifton Forge, Iron Gate, Glen Wilton,
Bessemer, Low Moor, Rich Patch, Gov
ington, Potts Valley, Iron Mountain
Stack mines, Dolly Ann mines, Kayser
mines, and the important plans for the
Improvement of the Hot and Healing
and Warm Springs. are all natural cen
tres of mineral and timber wealth, and
the whole New River district is one vast
bed of the best of coking and fuel Goals.
The extent of these natural resources is
simply unmeasured and unreasonable.
And yet they have been barely touched.
When in full tide of development, it
would stagger credulity to estimate the
volume of trade they would represent.
No where on this or the other continents
does the same area of territory embrace
SO much assured wealth, and in resour-
ces that are available for the uses of civ
ilization and in demand the world over.
1t is to utilize these varied and pros
life mines of wealth that the Chesa
peake and Ohio management is bending
it's energies and applying its revenues.
Gen. Ingalls, is fully alive to what is be-
fore him. He comprehends the immense
traffic that will be produced, and the
splendid future that awaits the devel-
opinent of the territory his read accom-,
modates What it is possible to do, with
present means, will be done, and all the
resources at his command will be sub
ordinated to the great work that invites
his energies. Men equal to conditions
and emergencies always appear at the
proper time. The physical endowments
of nature are met by the mental grasp
and sagacity for their development.
The law of compensation and equiva-
Tents is constantly operating, and the
time now is for these forces to meet, as
they have met, in this section to DEM
onstrate what wonderful country we
have We are entering upon great in>
dustrial era. AS the raw material of the
East is approaching the exhaustive pc
Rod, the virgin condition in Virginia is
attracting attention. The natural sup
plies are here for a century of enters
prise, and the men are coming to the
front to inaugurate the plans and the
projects to convert into the uses of the
world the dead wealth which has
been slumbering in our mountains and
valleys since the great Creators hand
placed it where it is. We can see in the
dim future the results of present incil-
lent movements. One continuous line
of industry and activity from one end
of this valley TO the other, and the pro-
duct of mine and furnace and forest
brought under the direction of skilled
wealth and enterprise unexcele1 on the
continent.
But we have somewhat depressed from
the purpose of these notes. From Gin
cinnati to Louisville, over the Ohio and
Mississippi, is less than four hours ride.
We pass through industrial towns, alive
with the hum of machinery, and through
hamlets and settlements apparently de
serted, buildings marked by decay and
the spirit of enterprise departed. These,
doubtless, owed their institution and
prosperity to the river trade, when the
steamboat was the public carrier, but
since railroads have been constructed,
are left to tell the tale of a less active
administration. Here and there stones
quarry denotes little Industrial life,
but generally, excepting three or four
prosperous towns, the moles and bats
seem to have taken possession of this
portion of Indiana. The steam engine
speeds by without so much as paying it's