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                 he


KENTUCKY UNION RAlfWAY


       q ompany.


          GENERAL OFFICES:
COURT HOUSE SQUARE, CORNER CIJEAPSIDE AND MAIN ST.,
         LEXINGTON, KY.
               1888.

 
PROF. N. S. SHALER OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

                See Pge 9.


I

 
Asarded by the United States Centennial Coomission to the HADDOCK COAL MINING COMPANY
                  of Breath itt County, Ken-utky. for the best

        CANNEL COAL IN AMERICA.

                       III11N1-1-,1111-.i' -l

  KENTUCKY UNION RAILWAY COMPANY.


                           PRASIxDE)T:
                 T. J. MEGIBBEN, Harrison County.
                         VICK PREStDRIDT
                 A. G. 1'. I)ODGE, Lexington, A g  Doteor.
                           DItRRCTORE:
 WX TARR, Bourbon Cotnty       .    SAL UEL CLAY, Je., Lexington
 J. M. THOMAS, Bourbon County.      GEO. W. B   EN, Burbon County.
 JOHN S. CAIN, Louisville.          R. B. HUTCHCRAFT, Bourbon County.
 JOHN H. GOFF', Clark County.       W I. SHAWa Bourbtn County.
                   RICHARI) P. STOLL, Lexington.
                           81ECRETARY I
                 J. bl. THOMAS, Paris, Ky.
                           TREASURER.  
                 RICHARD P. STOLIL, Lexington.


                 LANDS DEPARTMENT:
  CAPT. J. M, 'I'HOMAS, Lexington.   BENJAMIN C'RAW 'FORID Lexington.
                           ENoOKEEtSI
            'M. A. GUNN, (Late figimreer C'wia'.iN wrn.)
            WbI. .i'I.OY.


                                 IN D EX.


 Act Incorporating Kentucky Union Railway, 65-71.
 ANSTEI), PROI:. DAVID T., Engineer, Extracts from Report Of, 3, 45-46.
 ATKINSON, EDWARD, Extract from Article in Harpers' Weekly, 3.
 Blue Grass Region, I, i6-i8, 2t-23, 37.
 Cannel Coal, 2, 6, 8, 11, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33-35, 46.
 Centre of Population, 22-23.
 Clays, 10, 14, 22, 50.
 Climate, 15, 21, 37, 38, 44-45.
 Coal, 2, 3, 6, 8, io, i1, i8, 19, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 35, 39-40, 42-43, 45, 47-49, 51-52, 58-59, 62, 63.
      See also Cannel Coal and Coking Coal.
Coking Coal, 2, 6, 8, 32, 39-40, 42-43, 45.
Correspondence with Capitalists, 8, 22.
DE FRIESE, PROF. L. H., Extracts from Report of, 29-30.
GRAY, JOHN, Engineer, Extracts from Report Of, 52.
GUNN, W. A., Chief Engineer, Report of, 54-62.
Inhabitants, Immigration, etc., 2, 16, 40, 42, 63.
Iron, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 18, 19-20, 22. 43-44, 45, 50, 58. 59-60, 63. See also Red River Car
     Wheel Iron.
JOHNSON, HON. M. C., and others, Letter from 53-54.
Kentucky Union Railway, 4, 7, 8, io, ii, 13, 24, 25, 26, 30-37, 44, 52, 53-54, 54-62, 62-64, 65-71.
Lands Department, 8.
Live Stock, 7, 17, 31, 37, 38, 51, 63.
Manufactures, 1, 3, 13, 14, 15, 18, 20, 39, 41, 43, 6i.
Markets, o0 13, 14, 17, 22, 25, 26, 37, 51, 60.
McCLOY, W.Nt., Engineer, Report of, 62-64.
Mineral Resources of Kentucky, 2, 4, 6, 10, 46-47. See also Cannel Coal, Coal, Coking Coal,
     Iron, Red River Car Wheel Iron, Salt, etc.
MOORE, PROF. P. N., Extracts from Reports of,2o, 26-28.
Mortality, 15-16, 38.
Navigation, Water Prlvileges, etc., 18-19, 28, 37.

 
OWEN, DAVID DALE, Extracts from Reports of, 47-52.
Petroleum, 10, 13-14, 36.
PROCTER, PROF. JOHN R., Extracts from Reports of, 2, 4, 5, 30-45.
Races, i6.
Red River Car Wheel Iron, 5, 6, 7, 12, 20, 31-32, 58, 63.
Resonrees and Memoranda of Railway Line, 3, 5, lo, 11, 12, 20, 24-25, 26, 30-37, 43-44, 47,
     47-49, 52, 53, 54-64. See also Manufactures, Mineral Resources, Nlarkets, Soil l'roducts,
     Timber, etc.
ROGERS, PROF. WM. B., Extracts from Reports of, 46-47.
Salt, 4, 7, 10, 13, 22, 28, 36, 64.
SHALER, PROF. N. S., Extracts from Reports of, 1, 2, 3, 4, 9-26, 47-52.
Soils and Soil Products, 7, 8, 12, 14, 16-17, 21, 22, 31, 38-39, 40-42, 50-52, 6i, 62.
State Government, Education, Taxes, etc., 22, 23-24, 39.
Staves, 22.
Stone, 7, t6, I8.
Timber, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 14, 15, 21, 25, 29-30, 35-36, 58, 6o, 62.


C


                    STATEM ENT.


 The Blue Grass Counties of Kentucky.
   These embrace a region with an acreage larger than the States of
 Massachusetts and Connecticut combined, and constitute the most
 permanently fertile body of land on this continent and the most
 beautiful rural district in America.
   PROF. SHALER, of Harvard University, says: " I am personally well
acquainted with the conditions of the fertile lands of this country and
of Europe, and I have never seen another body of land equal to this
for the purposes of a cheap and varied tillage.    Passing, on
several occasions, from this region to the richest lands of Middle
England or vice versa, I have been struck by the singular likeness of
the two countries."
   There are few agricultural regions of this country where so large a
proportion of the products are calculated to furnish eastward freights.
This region is naturally well fitted to become the seat of those
extensive industries that require wood and iron for their basis; as, for
instance, the manufacturing of Agricultural Implements, Railway Cars,
Carriages, Wagons, etc. Kentucky offers unsurpassed advantages for
the creation of industries-the widest markets with the least carriage.
  Reference to the map will show that this region lies in the most
centrally placed State in the group east of the Rocky Mountains, and,
as PROF. SHALER says, is the very heart of the United States. He
predicts the time when it will be the greatest seat of those productions
which require cheap raw materials (wood, iron, and coal), cheap power,
and cheap food for their making, and when there will be not less than
eight millions of people in Kentucky with sources of wealth and power
unsurpassed on this continent. He closes one portion of his -able
Reports with these words: " It is only necessary to add that your road
having been completed to Virginia would constitute another of those
main lines on the creation of which absolutely depends the chance of
future greatness of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in point of wealth
and numbers. (See Detail Descriptions, indexed Blue Grass Regions.)

 
The Mineral Counties of Eastern Kentucky,
With io,ooo square mi/es of the richest coal and mineral lands in
America, immediately adjoin these rich counties. There is, therefore,
every reason why at this time this region should have been more
thoroughly grid-ironed with Railways than in any State to the north
of it. It would take volumes to discuss the useless question why
Kentucky, the first State of the Ohio Valley in order of time and in
order of resources, has been the last in order of growth.
  Suffice it to say, the vast majority of her business men are fully alive
to the situation and heartily anxious to do all in their power to place
Kentucky in the front rank as a manufacturing and commercial State,
a position to which she is justly entitled.  The -warmest welcome is
extended by a truth-loving and chivalrous people to all from the North
or from Europe who can aid this development. All the bitterness and
animosities of the war-period have been buried, and it is full time that
her sisterStates should crush out prejudices and misrepresentations that
have stood in the way of the development of the most beautiful part of
our common country. No section of the Union presents to-day a
more promising field for Railway enterprise. The statistics of the
Chesapeake  Ohio, and of the Cincinnati Southern show that their
resources within the State are taxed to their utmost capacity, to
provide for a rapidly increasing traffic.
  All along the valleys of Eastern Kentucky in munificent abundance,
may be found the different varieties of cannel, splint, block, coking,
and common-bituminous coal, located by nature in the most favorable
position for mining and shipping, the seams varying from three feet to
eight feet in thickness, and lying nearly horizontal, and from a few
feet to three hundred feet above the bottom of the ravines in which
they are exposed.
  Here is a region of country larger than all the coal and mineral
lands of England of which PROF. SHALER says- -Its economic future
lies in the fact that it is the richest field of mineral wealth known in
any country " and again, -No portion of the State exceeds the upper
Kentucky River region in number, thickness, or quality of coals;"
and again, "There are no cannel and coking coals superior to those
of the upper Kentucky Valley and on the line of the Kentucky Union
Railway."  PROF. PROCTOR, State Geologist, says- "In no region of
the United States can iron be produced cheaper." He further says
of the neighboring Virginia ores- " This excellent ore can be
delivered to furnaces along the eastern border of the Kentucky coal-
fields at prices ranging from fift' cents- to one dollar a ton." JOHN J.
STEVENSON, Professor of Geology in the University of New York City,

 
estimates that pig-iron can be made in this vicinity at eight dollars and
twenlty-fve cents per. ton.
   The above is but a small part of the ore supply available to
this region.
   PROF. SHALER says- I believe it will be found that no ores of like
richness and purity are to be found so convenient to paure cheap coals as
are these ores;" and again, "The nearness of the very pure ores of
East Tennessee and western North Carolina to the pure coals of
eastern Kentucky are an assurance that with transportation secured
that region will be one of the great iron and steel-producing centers
of the world. As it requires about five tons of coke to produce a
ton of finished bar iron or steel it is evident that these ores will be
brought to the coal, and for this reason you have an interest in the
quality, quantity, and development of these ores."
  PROF. D\vII) T. ANSTED, of England. of the highest standing as a
Geologist, speaking of a region reached by the Kentucky Union Rail-
way, says-" There can be no doubt, whatever, that the general coal
fields west of the Alleghanies, will have to supply the manufacturing
part of America before very long;" and again, "With regard to the
mining of the iron ores-that can be done at a cost below the price of
mining similar ores in any other part of the world that I have visited."
PROF. S IAIAEIR confirmed by all the Reports says-" The Timber in the
belt of country to be traversed by this line constitutes the finest forest
of virgin hard wood known to me in this country.'  PROF. PROCTOR
says-" The great variety and the richness in valuable timbers of these
forests I think can scarcely be surpassed." The country from the centre
of the Blue Grass region at Lexington to the Virginia railroads is as
full of resources for railway traffic as any similar mileage in America.
A competent explorer and railroad man lately returned fiom a month's
tour on the line says-" If the coolest headed Railway Superintendent
in the United States had been with me he would have been obliged to
report that it would tax the capacity of the ablest traffic manager to
accommodate with a single track the freight that would offer almost as
soon as the road opens."
  This vast region has, from well understood causes, been left almost
in a state of nature, without railway facilities and with very few wagon
roads; its timbers and coal have found their way, in very limited
quantities, to market by the uncertain river routes.
  EiWV\RI ATKINSON, ES(2., of Boston, says, in an article published in
Harper's Magazine, June, i88i: "This country, mountainous and hilly
as it is, would have been filled with a hardy, industrious, and thrifty
population, instead of a few settlements now met with, were it not for

 
two causes, the principal one of which has been want of communication
and market, the other the magnificent growth of timber with which the
land is covered. The mountain sides and valleys of eastern Ken-
tucky and East Tennessee, northern Georgia, western North and South
Carolina, and south-western Virginia, in many regards a terra incognita,
comprise a Territory larger than Great Britain, and contain more
and purer iron and coal, equal deposits of copper, lead, zinc, and salt."
It enjoys what is probably the finest climate on this continent. It is
permeated by the most fertile valleys, and bears upon the hills and
mountain sides the heaviest growth and greatest varieties of hard
wood timber.
   PROF. PROCrOR says-" The two great railway lines from Central
Kentucky have skirted along the outcrop of this coal field in a curious
fashion before entering it. The Cincinnati Southern runs almost
parallel with the south-western borders, and only enters the field south
of the Cumberland River; while the Lexington  Big Sandy (now the
Chesapeake  Ohio) avoids the coal on the north-western border of
the field, for many miles. It is therefore evident that a railway, such
as you propose, will afford the shortest route, and on account of the
favorable grade to be obtained, the cheapest means of supplying a large
area with coal, lumber, and other products."
The Kentucky Union Railway
has been chartered to run through the heart of this region to the
Virginia line. It presents the most feasible, direct, and cheapest attainable
line for the development of the wonderful resources of this long
neglected region. CHIEF ENGINEER GUNN's Report shows that only from
seven to eleven miles in distance is added to an actual air-line from
central Kentucky to the centre of the Coal Basin in Breathitt County.
This part of the road can be built and equipped at a cost of not over
30,000 per mile. No one who will study the subject can doubt the
certainty of a traffic that will pay a large profit on its cost. The long
and able reports hereto attached will bear testimony to the resources
of the country and the value of the line.
  PROF. SHALER says-The line of the Kentucky Union Railway has,
it seems to me, certain especial advantages over any other, in that it
crosses the coal and iron belt at its widest part, and where there is the
heaviest timber;" again, "The distance from the eastern coal field to
Louisville by this line would be shorter than by any other;" again, " I
believe it to be one of the most important roads for the mineral inter-
ests of Kentticky that can possibly be built ;" again, "' The mountains of
Kentucky, far from being a barrier to the passage of railways, constitute

 
on the whole, a region more fitted for their passage than the Blue Grass
Country," and says he is "I repeating the opinion of competent engineers."
Again, " The valley of the Kentucky River, on a line from the city of
Lexington to Pound Gap, affords the most practicable and desirable
line ;" again, "This road, passing through Pound Gap, would give
direct connection with Norfolk and Wilmington, North Carolina, by a
nearly air-line route. Our principle mineral belt would be brought into
most immediate contact with all the shore belt cities of the Atlantic."
   PROF. PROCTOR says-" Your road will penetrate through the centre
of this great region on a route as finely located for easy grades as could
be selected, and having the advantage of entering the coal field of east-
ern Kentucky at right angles to its out-crop, thus insuring the shortest
possible route from these excellent coals to the central or Blue Grass
region ;" and says again-" I do not believe too high an estimate could
be placed upon the importance and value of the proposed road, Conn-
bining as it will, such a variety of advantages. It will be the great
mineral road of the country."
Resources and Memoranda of Railway Line.
  Extending from Lexington or Paris or both to Winchester or above on
the line of the Chesapeake  Ohio Railroad, a cheap and advantageous
route can be had if favorable running arrangements are not made
with existing roads. The line thence for forty-five miles is reported
on as follows-" The substratum is, first a rotten limestone, next
shale, next sandstone. The hydrography is such that the grading
would cost very little-for a distance of twenty miles not more
than throwing up an embankment with occasional small side cuts to
shorten the curvatures of streams. There is abundant timber along
the line for ties, sandstone for abutments, and suitable gravel for ballast-
ing. At a distance of twelve miles, from the Chesapeake  Ohio
Railroad we reach the old Red River Iron Works with its magnificent
water power (15 foot head and fall) and eligible location for ore. At
this point there was formerly produced not only the domestic iron of
the country, but a large quantity was exported. The company now
owning it yet make, in the vicinity, the noted Red River car-wheel iron,
but are restricted in the amount of production by the extravagant cost
of wagoning it out to the line of the C.  0. Railway. Here on the
opposite side of the river, are also located, with extensive boom
arrangements, Lumber Mills of the largest capacity in the State of
Kentucky, producing the choicest walnut, white and yellow pine,
oak, hemlock and other lumber, in quantities limited only by the
means of transportation.

                                 5

 
             Machinery and provisions for an out-put of over 30,000,000 feet of
          lumber, etc., from this station are provided for, and over I,500,000,000
          feet of choice timber is naturally tributary to this point from the Red
          River and its branches which run through over 8o,ooo acres of choice
          white pine lands, the only tract of the same south of the Ohio. These
          lumber and iron resources with the water power wi/i build ltp a most
 Powell Co. thriving town at this point. Powell County, covering the valley of the
          Red River, is the border county of this vast mineral region of Ken-
          tucky. Its iron is unequaled, its forests abundant.
            At the mouth of Cat Creek, a distance of twenty miles from the
          C.  0. Railroad, an excellent smithing coal is found in strata, thirty to
          thirty-six inches in thickness. At this point the road would be in
Iron Works. tramway distance of the Estill Iron Furnace on the hill.
            The entire mountains on either side of the Red River are filled with
          iron ore, best known as the ",Red River Car-wheel Iron."  The coal
          measures increase in thickness as the line progresses, and the rising
          grade of the river makes them more convenient until, at a distance of
          thirty miles from the Chesapeake  Ohio Railroad, we find, nearly on
          the road level, coal three and a half to five feet in thickness.
 Volfe Co.  The Town of Campton, county seat of Wolfe County (36 miles from
          the C.  0. Railroad) is underlaid with coal. In its vicinity is the
          Hobb's Bank, /ve and a half feet thick-excellent bituminous coal.
          Thence all the way on the waters of Devil Creek to the right, Still-
          water to the left, and Holly and Frozen, there is abundance of coal on
          every hand. Stillwater and Frozen have workable veins of cannel coal
          oftine qualzty. Crossing at the mouth of Frozen Creek the road
          would run three miles to The Town of Jackson up the main river
Breathitt Co. under a heavy vein of fattest bituminous coal (the favorite grate
          coal of Kentucky). All the way the stratum is just high enough
          to dump conveniently into the cars. The route from here is, all the
          way, through heavy timber, CANNEL COAL, and minerals, through
 Perry and Perry and Letcher counties to Pound Gap by way of the Trouble-
 Letcher some and North Fork, 136 miles from Winchester, cutting through
          the centre of the great Cannel Coal Bed of this continent, and
          to the best of Coking Coals (see Prof. Proctor's Analysis) which,
          from their accessibility would alone justify a double track road. If the
          Pound Gap route from Perry County is abandoned to avoid the long
          tunnel and heavy mountain work in Virginia (not more expensive how-
          ever, than all the other east and west main lines), a careful recognizance
          shows a most desirable line through all the company's lands in Perry
Harlan Co. County to the rich county of Harlan; thence by direct route to Pen-
          nington or Cumberland Gap, and east and south-west connections.
                                            6

 
  There has been no route projected or proposed of such easy grade,
running so directly into these mountains of wealth, as this represented
by the Kentucky Union Railway Company. The first twelve miles of
this road would pay well. Every additional five miles would increase
its value. Forty miles of this road, constructed from the line of the
Chesapeake  Ohio Railroad, would, by its own earnings, build itself
to Virginia connections.
  The controllers of the Lexington  Big Sandy, and also of the
Kentucky Central (now the C.  0. Railroad) have every reason and
disposition to encourage the enterprise, so that our connections and
outlets north, east, and west, would be secured.
  Almost any day, from the middle of April to the last of November,
a traveler may meet forty wagons, laden with lumber and iron, coming
from Red River to the C.  0. Railroad, besides what goes toward
Mt. Sterling. This is but a trifling thing compared to what may be
produced and sent out of this country. The growths of hickory, oak,
and hard woods, the production of staves, hoop-poles, etc., would sup-
port wagon and barrel factories. The valleys and bottoms are amply
rich to support a large population. The soils of Wolfe and Breathitt XWolfe aid
counties are well suited to the culture of tobacco. They produce good  Counties.
corn and small grains. All this country to the Virginia line is admirably
adapted to sheep-farming. The coal and iron ores are inexhaustible.
The right of way has been secured for the greater part of the distance,
and liberal donations of lands are offered to a company that will make
the road. Besides the products recited, the lithographic and freestones
are even now articles of commerce-the lithographic stone of this
region being pronounced equal if not superior to the best German, and
the freestone quite as good as the best Ohio freestone.
  Reference is made to the Geological Reports of the State (extracts
hereto attached) as to the relative value of our coals, and to the superior
price of the Red River Iron in market, and as to its value. Th is
portion of Kentucky has the largest body of valuable timber lands in
the United States.
  This company has not only thoroughly surveyed this line, but has
secured by purchase in the counties through which the line is to run,
over 500,000 acres of valuable coal and timber lands. These lands lie
mostly in the counties of Breathitt, Perry, and Letcher, of which
it is truly said in the State Geological Reports- "Strata of coal and
iron ores underlie their entire surface. The hills are covered with fine
timber; springs impregnated with salt and other minerals abound;
the streams are stocked with fish." The soils, as before stated, are
well adapted to corn, tobacco, and sheep-grazing.' The vine and fruit

 
           trees flourish. Take the country for its surface growth and the
           richness of its bowels, and it is unsurpassed in power of production;
           for besides the bituminous and superior coking coals, and iron, and
           timber, these counties are underlaid with the heaviest known deposits
           of Cannel Coal. Noted for richness of quality are Haddock's, Sewell's,
           and Roark's Cannels, in Breathitt county. Wolfe Creek has a solid
           vein of pure bituminous coal, seven feet thick. Comb's and Landrum's
           banks, seven miles above the mouth of Troublesome Creek, measure
           seven and a half feet cannel coal, with one foot parting of shale.
           These strata run through the county, and are found at same levels,
           with slight variations of thickness everywhere, with tendency to
           increased thickness up to Letcher county. Perhaps the heaviest vein
           of coal in Kentucky is on Clover Lick Fork, of the Poor Fork of
           the Cumberland, in this same county of Letcher.  The vein seems
           bedded on coal (possibly shale,) yet the face measures fourteen feet
           four inches in thickness.
             For details of length of line and connecting roads, see Report of
          CHIEF ENGINEER GUNN hereto attached.
             The Kentucky Union Railway Company is composed of Kentuckians
          -men of property, men of business-acquainted with the resources
          of their State and the manners of their people. They are in personal
          favor in the mountain districts through which the road would pass,
          have received the encouragement of the Legislature of their State in
          this enterprise in which they are engaged.  They ask the fullest
          investigation, not only as to the value of their proposed road and
          chartered privileges, but also as to the standing and integrity of their
          officers and stockholders.
          Lands Department.
            In purchasing the large bodies of land owned by this company,
  Lands  Capt. J. M. Thomas and Mr. Benjamin Crawford have become more
Department. familiar with the location of lands and their values, and the difficult
          titles of this section than perhaps any other persons available in the
          State. Of the highest standing for integrity and ability probably no
          negotiators can be found of greater prudence and carefulness.
            These gentlemen have given their services to this company, and we
          hope through them, to lay before the capitalists of Kentucky and the
          United States the most available and desirable purchases to be made
          in any part of this wonderful coal and mineral belt. Maps and detailed
          information will be furnished at the company's Lexington office, and
          correspondence with any one desiring to invest in eastern Kentucky lands
          is solicited. With its rapid development few parts of America can
          frunish such large returns for investments made now.
                                           8


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                              PROFESSOR N. S. SHALER,
                                    HARVARD UNIVERSITY,
                                            CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

                   [EXTRACTS FROM HIS VARIOUS REPORTS.]

  It is but just to myself and to the reader to give some account of
the opportunities I have had of becoming personally acquainted with
the country adjacent to the line of this road.
  A service of over six years in charge of the geological survey of
Kentucky has brought me into every county of that State, which the
road will enter.
  Others have made more detailed studies on particular divisions of
the belt than I have been able to make, but my opportunities for seeing
the whole line have been better than have fallen to the lot of any other
one person.
  Some service, as geologist in the Coast Survey in the Virginia
district, and later, several summers in charge of the work of the
Harvard Summer School of Geology, in Central and Western Virginia,
have served to make me pretty familiar with the districts it is proposed
the road shall pass through in that State.
  In the published and unpublished reports of the Kentucky Survey,
I have repeatedly urged the building of a railway through this belt of
country, for the purpose of opening up this region, which, considered
from the point of view of its mineral resources, is the very heart of
the continent. It has long been clear to me that we have here a
remarkable combination of the resources best calculated to make the
foundations of rich and prosperous communities; an admirable climate,
fertile soil, forests rich in manufacturing woods, and a singularly varied
store of mineral wealth. On either side of the great Appalachian
mineral and forest belt we have States with large and growing popula-
tions, which are just shaking off the lethargy that their old conditions
imposed on them. These conditions insure to the road the large traffic
that has been given to every railway that has yet been built across the
Appalachian mountains.

 
         I affirm my conviction that the belt of country lying between the
       parallels of 360 and 400, and from the Atlantic west to the Mississippi,
       contains the greatest and most varied mass of mineral resources of any
       equal area on this continent-resources destined to play a very great
       part in the future industries of this country. This proposed road will
       have the advantage of following perhaps the best possible line through
       this belt.
         The soil bears heavy forests of varied timber. Not one per cent. of
       all this mountain surface is without a forest covering, except where it
       has been removed by man.
Forests.  The same quality of soil that gives heavy forests on this belt makes
       the greater part of its surface fit for tillage.
         Although the food-producing capacity of this district is a matter of
       importance in considering the prospects of its future, it is not in the
       resources of this character that we find the element of greatest interest
       to the economist. Its economic fiture lies in the fact that it is the
       richest field of mineral wealth known in any counhty. Placed between
       the agricultural districts of the Atlantic slope and the Mississippi
       valley, these vast stores of coal, iron, copper, zinc, and other mine
       products are admirably situated for the use of the populous States
       that are now growing up in those sections. No one can doubt that
       this peculiarly fortunate relation of rich mineral resources to the
       rich tillage soils of this continent will lead to a great commerce
       between the two.
         The Alleghany range of mountains contains in its folds and on its
       flanks great areas of petroleum, and several levels where waters
       thickly charged with salt are found. There are also abundant deposits
       of fire and pottery clays in the coal series. Taken -in its entirety, this
       coal bearing belt is, by the quality of its coals and their fitness for use
       in all the arts that demand fuel, the richest field in either America or
       Europe.
         The line of the Kentucky Union road has, it seems to me, certain
       especial advantages over any other, in that it crosses the coal and iron
       belt at its widest part, where there is the heaviest timber.
         At either end of the route are vast districts occupied by agricultural
       and manufacturing populations, which will afford a large and constantly
       growing market for the products of the mines as they are opened
       up all along the lines. This advantage is shared to a greater or less
       degree by all the roads that cross both these mountain ranges from
       New York southward.
 Coals.  In the western, or Alleghany mountains, we have the mineral
       resources of the newer rocks of the geological series. Coal in great
                                          10

 
quantity exists along this range, nearly fifty thousand square miles of
it, an area at least seven times as great as that of Great Britain lying
in this system, between New York and Alabama. This coal varies
from non-flami</pre>