The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1895-05-09
IT'S A GREAT COUNTRY.
Judge Mccormick Impressions Of
East Tennessee.

EAST Tennessee and describe its re-
sources. The resources are so
abundant and the conditions so uni
lue, that it is necessary to see them
n order to believe in their actu-
Atty. And, my advise to any one,
looking for a location, is to 60 to
East Tennessee and carefully eX-
anime its great and Obvious adj
vantages of climate and natural re-
sources, before deciding the matter.
The trip from Chicago is by way
o. Cincinnati or Louisville, over the
Queen & Crescent route, and goes
through the famed "Blue G ass"
region of Kentucky.
The scenery along the Kentucky
river is very striking, the banks
rising in perpendicular bluffs, hun
dreds of feet in height. One rail-
road bridge Is $50 feet high and an
other 27O feet. From Somerset,
Ky to Hartman, Tenn. distance
of ninety miles, which is in the
mountain region, there are twenty
nine tunnels, some of them over a
mile long. These tunnels together
with the other difficulties Of con-
struction, are said to have made the
expense of building this road, for
that length, over $4,000 mile.
1t is in attempting to describe
the material resources that my pen
falters; first, because what l am
going to say will seem like eXag-
geration, and second because, tx
aggprated as it may seem, it will be
fur short of the actual facts.
Take the timber resources Of the
country for instance. l was offered
the chance to buy thirty or forty
millions of pine end the finest OF
hard woods in single bodies, al
nominal prices. Any manufact-
urcr using woods such as oa', cher
ry, gum, ash, sycamore or poplar
can make a contract for his timber
supply at from one-half to two
thirds of what it costs him in the
North, by manufacturing his stock
there.
The field for the lumberman from
the. exhausted timber territory OF
the Northwest is in East Tennessee
and further south.
Perhaps the greatest single re.
source of East Tennessee Is coal. ]
had seen coal mines before going to
Tennessee. Had lived amongst
them. But the coal mines of East
Tennessee were a revelation to me,
Instead of going down a shaft to
reach the coal, as l had always
seen it done, the coal mines in East
Tennessee are up in the air. Liter
ally, there are three veins one
above the other up in the air. There
Is supposed to be coal below the
surface also, but nobody will take
the trouble and expense Of digging
down in the earth and hauling the
coal up when he can go into the
side and load it on the car. The
quality of the coal is most excellent.
l never saw anything superior for
fuel, steam or coke. The veins are
from three to seven feet in thick.
ness. and the quantity inexhaus-
tible.
Iron is another staple of this
country. l saw large smelling
plant, where the mouths of the iron
and ,oal mines were right together
so that one can understand that
this plant has been operated sue
cessfully through the hard times.
1t was running full blast when l
visited it. The iron ore is not so
easily mined as tEat of the Mesaba
range, but the advantage of cheap
coal to smelt with more than off
sets this advantage.
Then there is znK in paying
quantities. Mills have been estab-
lisned for the smelling of this ore,
though this has only begun as yet.
Then there is the climate: After
an experience ofnearly two months
at the worst ti,ne OF the year and
after hearing the testimony of
many northen people, who are well
acquainted with the climatic condi.
tons of every part of the country.
l do not hesitate to say that East
Tennessee offers tie best all the
year climate i'm the United States.
found it to be delightful even in
February andMarch.
The valleys are very fertile cap
able of producing every vegetable
growth. But the capabilities of the
soil like everything else remain un.
developed to large extent.
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