Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-08-24

enough for a kings heritage, and our
wildernesses are active with the whirr
of wheels, with the thunder Of the loco
motive, and the stroke Of the pick and
Ak, Whilst our active, happy, and intel
/ ligent people attest our determination
20 more than equal the old time glory Of
the Mother State
IN ALL THE ARTS OF PEACE.
In great National Convention ten
/ years ago. newspaper reporter spoke
! Of recGlicitrant delegate as hailing
/ from "the little wild State Of West Vir-
| ginia." Wonld that be true to-day? On
our country's map, 1t has long been the
| custom TO place our State on the map
as very small State. Let us see. The
State has an area Of "a, 7s0 square miles,
more than twice the size OF Vermont.
three times the size Of Massachusetts,
| nearly four times the size Of Connecti-
/ cut, more than three times the size Of
/ Maryland, aud courtesy TO Delaware,
iorbids any mention Of the question Of
size.
Let Us stand upon one Of our grand
mountains and cast the eye over the
State. You will find pleasing pano-
rama spread before you; view, not
alone pleasing TO the eye Of sentiment,
but touching and appealing to the high
est spirit Of the utilitarianism OF the
day,
Not alone will you see Natures
handiWork, but looking still to the
| South, you will see the southern tier Of
counties pierced by the Norfolk and
Western railroad, opening the great
/ Pocahontas coal field, easily one Of the
first Goals OF commerce, whilst, higher
! up, towards the centre Of the State,
cutting In twain the great New River
and Kanawha coal fields, is seen the
Chesapeake and Ohio railroad. Yet,
still above this great trunk line Is seen
the
SMOKE OF THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO
Heading TO the grand Tygart's Val
lev, we see the locomotives Of the West
Virginia Central hGrrying through the
vast forests aud rich coal fields and up
and down through the centre OF the
State, with the steel rail resting In the
shadows Of the gigantic forests and
lying on the beds Of coal, is the new
Camden system.
What the eager eye OF capital has
seen will be understood when you know
that the war left us but the silent
mountains, with scattered, sparsely
settled people, with our wealth wholly
unknown, and with utterly paralyzed
industrial health; that in 1880 we had
but s91 miles OF railroad, to-day, We
have l, 700 miles and last year we were
the first railroad building State In the
Union.
will not worry you with figures,
but when we speak OF coal the mind
naturally fies 10 Pennsylvania. But
to-day, West Virginia With giant strides
is overtaking her and is contesting with
Pennsylvania for the absolute control
of the southern and western coal trade.
It's only by comparison that we can
understand q States greatness OF natu-
raj resources. England. with her COM
mercial greatness largely founded on
coal, has only about seyenty-fve hun
dred square miles Of coal, as compared
with West Virginia's sixteen thousand
square miles; Pennsylvania the head OF
coal production; has 12,70O, Ohio 10000.
Kentucky s, 900.
Another comparison: The Connells-
VILE coke region, the great Pennsylva-
MIA region, Is only about 10 miles long
By about two miles in width, and large
ly exhausted, while the New River Dis
trict, one Of it's most powerful West
Virginia rivals Is go miles long by -
miles wide and virtually untouched, and
the Flat Top and Monongalia coal re-
gions are boundless In extent and
INExHAUsTIBLE IN PRODUCT.
It has only been since 1876 that the
State has come into commercial promi-
nence. In 1880 We were seventh In coal
production; to-day we are fourth. In
1850 we worked 2, 500 miners, last year
10. 600. In 1880 we produced only /, ,404,-
600 tons Of coal, in 1892 we produced
S. .777, ,Sss tons Of coal. In 1880 we pro-
duced 131,7l5 tons Of coke; last year we
produced 1896 tons Of coke, making
West Virginia the second coke produc-
ing State, and this with only two hun
dred miRes in operation and the cokinR
fields only scratched.
When one sees West Virginis'S mag
nifcent display Of timber here, it would
be superfuOus for me TO say anything OF
her timber. The Government census
shows that the State has the largest
BODY Of hard wood timber in the United
States. About three-fourths Of the en-
tire area Of the State is covered with
forests. The grand forests Of the State
are almost untouched with the axe; one
forest alone Of black spruce one hun
dred miles in length and from ten TO
twenty miles in width, has just felt the
stroke OF the axe. On our mountains
| - oh WaInnk Whfta
pine, magnificent white oak, poplar and
maple, whilst amidst these great woods
are all the smaller kinds common to this
latitude. Already the Germans are
drinking beer from our West Virginia
oak, the French and English wine from
our wine casks, and almost every Euro
pean nation is using furniture and ma
chimes made from sound and
TOUGH WEST VIRGINIA TIMBER.
Ny time is too limited here to more
than advert to the fact that West Vir-
ginis has the largest oil producing field
in the world, and that TO West Virginia
has come the Standard Oil Company
\ and other magnStes Of oil, who look to
West Virginia as the great oil producer
Of this country. Prof. !. G. White, the
| greatest living authority on oil and gas,
says that the oil belt extends two hun
dred miles through the State, from
Hancock TO Logan county. This has
been verified very largely by the fact
that the Big Injun sands are untouched
whilst the rich Gordon sands are only
pierced in a few places. Our output Of
oil is 615, 600 barrels per month.
will not more than mention our mag
nificent building stone, our vast depos-
its Of salt, gas, and our magnificent