Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-08-26

liz SR0R ll|lI RlllR0AD
viii Open up Most Extensive Bitumi-
nous Coal Field in the State.
AND VALUABLE OIL TERRITORY.
WILL EXTEND FROM CLARKS-
BURG TO NEW MARTINSvILLE.
COL. JACKSON THE PROMOTER
OF THE ENTERPRISE-WOR
OF GRADING ABOUT FINISHED.
HALF THE ROAD WILL BE
COMPLETED BY JANUARY 1ST.
PROSPERITY OF HARRISBURG.
Special to the Register.
CLARKSBURG, August 24.-There
never was time in the history of
Clarksburg when the business and in
dustrial outlook for the community
was brighter. The average citizen. ex
poets Clarksburg to become within a
few years the second city in the State
in population and influence. One fac
tor in bringing about this happy condi-
ton of affairs will be the oil develop
ment in Harrison county, which has al
ready reached such proportions as TO
attract the attention of drillers from all
the fields in this and adjoining States.
Clarksburg will be the source OF sup
plies, and in all probability the place
of residence of the large population
which the oil development will bring
into the county, inasmuch as it is be-
lieved that the fluid will be found in
paying quantities very close to the coun-
ty seat.
Another and more important factor
in augmenting the wealth and popula-
ton of Clarksburg. will be the West
Virginia Short Line railroad. 1t will
connect this city with New Martins
vile, opening UP territory which is
remarkably rich in oil and coal depos-
it's 1t is estimated by experts that
miles of coal territory, with seams
ranging in thickness from nine to eleven
feet, tributary to the road. 1t is the
most extensie and valuable bitumin-
Gus coal field in West Virginia. From
this city to point about twenty miles
west, the deposits are above the level
of the road,
Capt John bravo, the well known
river man and eminent authority on
the subject, has expressed the opinion
that the operation of the Short Line
railroad will permit the mining and
shipment of coal at New Martinsville,
at a cost so comparatively cheap as to
demoralize the trade of the river oper-
ators in the Pittsburg district. Col.
7. NJ Jackson, to whose en-
ergy, enterprise and ability, are in
large measure due the success of the
Short Line road project, estimates that
from two to three million tons Of coal
will be shipped annually via the rail-
road and river to the southern markets.
The new road passes through very
extensive oil developments. There are
four well defined belts which are now
being worked profitably, two gas belts,
and other oil and gas fields in the pros
pective.
Col. Jackson has been identified with
the Short Line railroad project ever
since its inception in 1895, and is now
president of the company. Gooch,
Rinehart & Dennis, of Richmond, Va,
are the general contractors in charge
of the work. The road will be SO miles
long. From Clarksburg the tracks will
follow the west side of the west fork
of the Monongahela to the mouth of
Ten Mile creek, thence up Ten Mile and
Little Ten Mile, to Summit Tunnel, at
the Wetzel county line, thence down
The maximum grade is Is feet to the
mile, said to be the lowest in the State.
There will be three tunnels on the
road, and the work will be necessarily
delayed by their construction. The
Summit tunnel will be three-quarters of
a mile in length, and the Twins will be
located west of it. in Wetzel county.
There will also be small tunnel at
Monongahela Junction, at the west end
of Clarksburg, upon which the work
has been started Work upon the
Summit tunnel was commenced on June
LIST, and the contractors are using as
many men as possible. One force