The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-01-05
Wonderful
DEVELOPMENT OR WEST VIRGINIA.
Governor Fleming's Complete
Exhibit of What. Has
Been Done.
Thu IEEXHAUSTIBLE RESOURCES
OF the State...RailrOad Building,
Coal and Iron Mining and
Oil Development.
An Invitation 10 Capital to Come and
Invest In Lanl Filled With
Wealth = Tie Governors
article In the "Manu.
mctuters' Review"
An Interesting
and Able
One.

Several weeks ago the MdHutdcturcrS
Record OF Baltimore, addressed letter
IN each Of The Governors OF the fourteen
southern States, requesting that he fur
nisb for publication a summary OF his
States development during the past
vear and a statement OF its advantages
and attractions for immigration and in.
vsgtment. Bat two responses have
6srn received so iar-lrom Governor
FIeming Of West Virginia, and Cover
nor Eagle, OF Arkansas-aud tlIeir letter.
appear in the current number Of the
P,rotd. Governor Fleming's contribu.
lion ia reproduced below. 1t is valu'
sble document, makes asplendid show.
inc for the Stat. and will be read with
great interest. Following is Governor
FIeming's letter;
STATE OF WRsT VIRGINIA, !
EXECuTIvE MANSION,
CHARLESTON, Dec. "A, 1890 J
ur,i, within the past few years little
was known by the outside world OF the
mRryelous natural resources Of West
ViTvinia. The great avenues OF COM
,reTce and travel lay along the northern
and southern borders Of the triangular.
shaped State, and population and trade
swept by, unaware Of the capabilities OF
her soil, the extent and value OF her ior.
eats or tho inexhaustible wealth OF her
vast mineral deposits.
While thisis not now true to the ex'
Ten, it was score Of years ago, while
capita! and tndus;ry have recently Pene.
tratpd even to the heart OF the State and
ara now developing her hidden riches
with tremendous energy, the vast possi-
bii,ies OF the State arc as yet scarcely
realized, her richest mineral regions are
practically unexploEsd, her great stores
oi iron and coal are comparatively un.
touched, and OF the 16640 600 acres OF
land in the State, probably 5000. 900
acres are still in the original forest. This
is a State whose eastern border is only
81 miles from Baltimore, 1T0 miles from
Philadelphia, 2SB from New York;
whose western border is Z hours distant
from Cincinnati, ii hours from Chicago,
and whose products can DO put into
Cincinnati in 20 bours by river, Pitts.
burgh in 80 hours, New Orleans in b
days.
il would, in truth, be impossible to
exaggerate the uuequslled opportunities
which West Virginia presents, there
fore, to capital and every kind OF maau;;
featuring and commercial enterprise. !
.Tould emphasize this fact. No other
State in the Uuion, in my judgment,
possesses to-day such cheap and abund'
ant raw materials, or offers such cons
piCuous opportunities for safe and profit
able invesiment Of capital.
l cannot, in the limited time at my
disposal for the task, give more than q
general view Of the present development
and material advancement OF the State
and touch upon some OF her chief sources
OF wealth, present and prospective.
Below give in tabulated form such
data as l have at hand bearing directly
upon the growth Of the State in the past
decade, and which clearly evidence the
remarkable progress made. The figures
relating to population and wealth are
taken from United States cenaus reports;
those relating to tax values aud railroad
mileage are from State reports. Not
hayiLg before me the census reports OF
1850 toucEiDg farm animalS and iarm
products, the statistics under that bead
show n conpaEiSon between 1870 and
lSSS, tho fret rs reported in. the ninth
census, the latter ~ given by the secre-
tary OF Agriculture in his report OF last
year.
POPULATION. HALLWAY MILEAGE, AsstzaEp rRor'
rETY AND TRUE WEALTH. ,,,
feepalssi,oa.:.;;;;s..D,, ; ~, CiS'u:c 70OAiS %
property. y............,.sli7oli,5iO slsIls5,9A ~
Wealth tFae value, SO7,OO0,oCo 'lO2,pCo0oo "
- Railroad milcage..- COL l,d3 10
7EstimAted.
tuN