The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1898-11-10

forty miles long, has an average width |
of nearly sixty miles, and as section
has few equals either for beauty of land
scape or fertility of soil. The impress
of prosperity is everywhere stamped
upon its face, and the attractions of the
natural scenery have been supplement
ed by the thrift of man, Over to the
east of this garden-like valley may be
discerned the hazy outlines of the Great
Smoky and Balsam mountains, and to
the west stretches an undulating region
of field and forest to the Cumberland
plateau. t
The section has for very many years
been one of the choicest farming and
dairy purposes, and that those who are
tillers of the soil have been blest with
abundance is made evident by even a
car-window view, Along the north
western border of the valley is a con
tinuous belt of fossil ore, and along its
upper portion the Oriskany ores, con-
nected with the coal by frequent water
gaps where streams come down into the
bottom lands, Southeast of this iron
belt, and in parallel strips across the
valley to it's southern side, Me valuable
beds, deposits and ledges Of marbles,
limestones, clays, iron ores, zinc, lead
and other minerals, and along its south
western side it is again bordered by a
broad belt of limestone ores, famous for
the ductility and toughness Of the iron
made from them. Throughout the val
ley fertile lands, fine timber, clear
streams, innumerable mineral springs
and beautiful scenery abound.
The valley is futed with ridges and
broken hills and intervening valleys Of
great fertility in which are grown with
success corn, wheat, oats, rye, tobacco,
clover. and the various grasses. Nearly
all fruits grow in this region, and hun
dreds of thousands of dollars worth of
fruits and berries, green and dried but
chiefly dried or canned, are annually
shipped. Apples, peaches, pears, plums,
Strawberries and grapes are the princi-
pal fruits. Vegetables, grow to sur
prising perfection, and some of the
finest market gardens and truck farms
in the South are adjacent to Knoxville
The climate is equable and famed fol
its healthfulness The growing season
embraces about one hundred and nine
ty-four days. The winters are milo
and the summers for the most part art
delightful. The average altitude il
one thousand feet above sea level
There are no extremes of heat or cold
no cyclones or tornadoes, the noun
tains seeming to serve as protection
against them.
From Bristol on the Virginia line an(
Hot Springs on the North CarolinI
border to Chattanooga in the lower enc
of the valley, the mountains and val
leys abound in rivers and streams 0
pure water, clear as crystal, which doy
over rocky bottoms or pebbly beds AM
and mirror the blue skies above. Thou
sands of springs and creeks feed tn
Tennessee, French Broad, Holston, Hi
, wassee, Pigeon Greek, Emory, Littl
! Cumberland and Watauga Rivers, al
beautiful and picturesque streams, SUP
plying unlimited water power and al
fording fine fishing.
In extent and variety Of mineral de
posits it may be truly said that no re
gion surpasses that of East Tennessee
e 1t has coal, iron, marble, copper, Zinc
f lead, nickel, barytes and potters' clay
u all in workable quantities, while th
supply of most of these is PRACTICAL
= unlimited. Gold is also found in pay
\ ing quantities. Along the streams
McMin and Monroe counties men NAL
. from one dollar to five dollars day /
80 primitive process Of pannipg. Zil
u smelling works are in operation
Clinton, Messy Greek and New Ma
\ ket, all within twenty miles Of Kno
\ Vile, the zinc Of superior quality. II
II Ducktown copper mines have pr
duced thousands of tons of copper, a.
their output has recently been large
increased.
There are numerous deposits of If
ore, brown hematite and magneti
yielding from thirty to seventy |
cent. of metallic iron. These depos
exist in every one Of the thirty-fc
counties in East Tennessee, and
,yT most of them in marketable quantiti
Y In many places it has been taken out
open cuts, comparatively little dO
mining done. There are furnaces