The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1931-08-27

Branch valley ana ClarkSDurg.)
You leave the South Branch Valley
and head toward mountain wall, but
you don't go over it. The road ferrets
out pass and you go through it and
run along the other side of it for a
mile or two before turning directly
west again. But all the time the road
lies between and among the hills
and if you make the journey in au-
tumn they are hills that are afame
with color.
To the person unfamiliar with West
Virginia, it is really amazing how
much of the State is still uncleared
and either bearing forests or capable
of producing forests. The whole State
lies right in the middle of the great
est hardwood producing section of
the eastern part of the United States,
and, according to the West Virginia
Department of Agriculture, at least
half of the States area must always
remain in forest.
Every county in the State has at
least % per cent of it's area in forest
or woods. Several counties have more
than so per cent; others go over the
80 mark. Three counties-Logan,
Mcdowell and Mingo-have more
than 80 per cent of their areas in for
est land. Of the counties traversed
by the Northwestern Pike you may be
surprised to learn that 62 per cent Of
Hampshire is in forests or woods; II
per cent of Mineral; SO per cent of
Preston; Al per cent of Taylor; 38
per cent of Harrison; 62 per cent of
Grant; So per cent of Doddridge; So
per cent of Richie and 40 per cent
of Wood.
After you pass through the village
of Ridgeville, at the foot of Knobley
Mountain, you come to a fork in the
road, one branch of which will take
you to Keyser, seven miles away, or
to Cumberland and Frostburg, in
Maryland, a little less than 80 miles
away. Most people prefer, however,
to continue little farther on the Pike
to New Greek and to proceed on the
Keyser road from that point.
Keyser is railroad town and many
of it's people are employed in the rail-
road shops there. 1t was named for
one of the vice-presidents of the B.
& O. When the town was just vii
lage it was called Paddy Town, so
named because Patrick McCarty oper-
ated an iron furnace there. The pres
ent population is about 1000 and the
town is the county seat of Mineral.
Between where you pass the road
to Moorefield and where you pass the
fork in the road near Ridgeville, you
ride through a village on the highway
called Burlington. A few miles from
this village, on a tiny farm hidden
away between two hills, was born
Nancy Hanks, mother of Abraham
Lincoln.
Before you get to Burlington you
cross the dividing line between Hamp-
shire county and Mineral. Where the
latter name came from is not hard to
guess, for West Virginia is just full of
minerals.
Mineral is the second county form
ed by West Virginia after it became
separate State. 1t was organized in
1866 and was taken from Hampshire.
The area is $50 square miles and the
population is about $4,000.
Leaving the little valley in which
lies Keyser you go over mountain
ridge. When last went over it 1
didn't think of looking at the mile
age when we started to climb, but the
distance between the place where l
! did look at it and the place where we
went over the top is seven miles. The
ridges are not only high but they
stretch away into the distance until
the eye can no longer follow. Look
ing back at one of them, you will see
great notch, nicely rounded, as
though a giant had taken bite out
of the ridge.
These ridges are not just bare and
gaunt and ugly rocks, but are almost
entirely covered with trees-a sea of
green in summer and coat of many
colors in autumn.
The easterner whose life has been
lived along the sandy shores of the
Atlantic and the man from the plains
country, where tree is something to
write home about, will open their eyes
in wonder when they first look upon
West Virginia's wealth of trees.
The road in Mineral county passes
through practically no towns or vii
lagos. Look in any direction and you
see only peaks and ridges. The road
side is clear of trees in many places
and you can see variety of noun
tain views. And still no advertising
signs! What a grand and glorious