Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1901-11-29
yEsuvIus AND OTHER POINTS.
The vjruiuia Chilled PIOw-VesuvIus
Mjnes-Four Mills to the MiIe-Schools
and School Teachers = Iron in the
Clouds, Etc.

Nov. 25.-Vesuvius. on the N. q w.
Ry., lust over the ockbridge line. be-
longs almost as much to Augusta as TO
for Augusta men have
helped to make it and the business
around it. and are interested in keep
ing it up and developing the varied
and valuable interests of the locality
The village takes It's name from the ola
V esuvius furnance, the ruins OF WHICH
may be seen near where charcoal iron
was made 70 years ago, and the Iur-
mace took it's name from the old vol
cano which made cinders in Italy
few centuries before this furnace went
into blast. From way back early ID the
last century the best of iron was TAKEN
out of the mountains which 0vershad-
Ow this little hamlet, and the best OF
iron is still coming out of those samo
The ore is now worked
from a rich vein 20 feet wide on The,
summit of the mountain, the mines and
some 1900 acres of land belonging Ed
the Echols, Bell & Catlett estate is val
liable property. The Roanoke Mining
Co. has leased the mines and Capt. T.
T. Hippert, of StauntOn, is superln
tending the work with the assistance
of Mr.. r. L. Cash, of Nelson, who
oversees the mine.
IRON IN THE CLOUDS.
After l had climbed the precipitous
side of the mountain about l20O feet,
| came to a rich vein of solid brown
hematite ore which Mr.. Cash and his
men were blasting up there near the
clouds. The ore had been taken 1O0
feet down out of the assure which runs
from the top to the bottom of the
making the mountain look
like an earthquake had cleft the top
of the peak, presenting a romantic and
unique appearance. From this mine
the ore, may say the iron it is so rich
and pure, is run down on gravity cars
to the bottom of the incline, $50 feet,
where it is dumped into small cars and,
still going by gravity, over good
narrow guage railroad a mile and a
quarter to the N. & W., where the big
freight cars are waiting to haul it to
Pulaski and Low Moor. This hauling
from the mountain top to the railroad
was, until recently, done and success
fully too, by StauntOn men, Rosenber-
ger & Nail, with wagons and horses.
There are rich deposits OF manganese
also in these mountains, work having
been suspended during the summer,
but is about to be resumed. Mr.. Glenn
mer HUMPHREYS is now prospecting for
manganese upon the land OF his father,
W. s HUMPHREYS, with good pros
pect of success, his first shaft having
disclosed some fine ore, but was stop
hyy
CHURCHES AND BUSINESS.
Vesuvius has Methodist and Bap
fist church. The merchants are Raw
lings & Mangus, who do a large busi-
business in general merchandise, tan
bark and shingles. with speciality in
buckwheat flour, made at their own
mill-the Oceola brand-whlch finds a
good market in Richmond where 1t
commands a higher price than the
northern buckwheat on account of its
purity, being uDmixed with other flour.
NJ. G. Steele has a smaller store here
also where the postoffice is kept
by his son, with E. l.. Burgess polite
clerk. The VesuviuS public school.
taught by Miss Phoebe Wallace is well
patronized, having an enrolment OF
Al pupils.
COTOPAXI.
A mile up the river, on South Bot
toms, is a nice school with 80 pupils
Miss L. L. Sheppe, of Staunton, prin
cipal, well known teacher of expert
ence and popularity, whose pupils
know fractions proper and improper
complex, compound ard mixed. ane
will be heard from when they get ou1
in the world.
FARMING ON TBE ROCKS
saw a new thing in farming herr
on the place of Mr.. W. j. Hite. whit
has made fine crop of corn on thu
rocks. The big round rocks lie clos
together all over the ground, with NJ
soil in sight aud one can't see how i
was planted, covered or worked. Blu
the grains fell between the rocks
sprung up and grew, the rocks keeping
the ground and roots moist and bl!
stalks bearing fine ears stood th1cl
among the rocks, surprise to the be
holder.
| MANUFACTURERS.
| Mari Creek, which runs into South
River near Vesuvius, comes rushln
down the gorge from Midway, cutting
it's way through the mari cliffs an
| making a splendid water power, whlc
runs three mills and the Vesuvlu
Pillow works, all in less than mile. NJ
G. Steele's flour mill, Walter Searson
flour mill and Rawlings & Mangu'
grist mill and pin factory. At the la
ter, large quantities of locust is worl
ed up into ship pins, known to tn
trade as tree nails The firm shl
their output by the car load to MalI
and some to San Francisco. Capt.
H. Rawlings, one of the old cltlzen
has for his partner in these enterpris
Mr.. G. B. Mangus, a progressive your
business man formerly of Botetour
! THE HOME OF THE VIRGINIA chill
ED Pillow,
known as the Vesuvius Plow work
was founded in 1S43 by Schuyler Bra
ley, New Yorker, who associate
with him Mathew Bryan. After tt
4 death of Bryan in 1859. Mr.. Brad,
a continued the pillow business till lot
/ when the late Hugh F. Lyle was a
: mitted to an interest in the bushes
II and year after, when MI. Bradl
e returned to New Xork, Mr.. Lyle pl
q chased the whole business and CONT
k ued it until 1875, when Mr.. William
l. HUMPHREYS became memb
|. of the firm. He had worked In
d establishment since he was IA yes
>, old, and had mastered every depa
}. ment of the business, which we'll It'll
y him to take full charge and assume
|. ownership after Mr.. Lyle's death, tn
|, having some years before moved t
d works to it's present eligible locatle
1 Here Mr.. HUMPHREYS has continr
the manufacture of the famous V
giuia chilled pillow and largely extel
Or ed the territory where it is sold, anc
al the favorlte of the farmer, best
b. making castings for every popu
s. pillow in use. His agents cover the
Ia ritory on the G. v .. from Gordo
1T vile to Hinton. on the Southern ii
We Charlottesville to Strasburg, on
RS N. & w. from Abingdon to Hag,
| -, nd