USA > Kentucky > Jefferson County > Louisville > The city of Louisville and a glimpse of Kentucky > Part 7
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for the return of commodities in exchange, the plan or construction of this work has proved so faulty as to require a change, involving its practical reconstruction with a lock instead of the chutes, and for reasons, iuto which our repre- sentation in Congress should inquire, the benefits expected from this dam in forming a pool into which coal could be loaded in boats to await tides, as in the Monongahela and Kanawha, and saw-logs handled for local milling, will be withheld from that neglected region for two years longer. This leads me to remark, incidentally, that if the average talent which represents Kentucky in Congress could, for a brief period, descend from the lofty pinnacle of tariff abstractions to the humbler but more practical perch of State advancement in ma- terial development, we should not be so far behind our sister States in these essen- tial particulars. Even without the intermediate locks and dams, with a good dam at Beattyville, provided with meaus of descent and ascent for rafts and coal barges, the coal mines of that region could be utilized, where now the precarious means of shipping coal forbid the embarkation of capital. It would bear the same relation to the Kentucky river that the Monongahela dams do to the Ohio. The latter, as the Kentucky river, is navigable only a portion of the year, and from it coal iu barges can be brought only upon the occurrence of tides created by rains. But the dams form pools and admit of the loading and safe-keeping of barges until such time as they can be brought down by tides. If this system is adopted at the Three Forks, the products of our mines will have greatly the advantage of those of Pennsylvania, since, while the Monongahela pools are about eight hundred miles from Louisville, the pool at Three Forks is but three hundred.
THE TIMBER.
Again, statistics gathered by the United States Engineers in charge of the dam at Three Forks show that over fifty million feet of lumber in logs annually pass that point from the three tributaries of the Kentucky river, to be sawed at the several railroad crossings of the river below, into lumber, chiefly for the eastern The Courier-Journat. market. About ten per cent. of this is waluut. The construction of this dam, so as to make a pool like that at Frankfort, eighteen miles in length, as contem- plated, would, upon the building of a railroad to this point, make it one of the principal lumber centers in the west, as the number of logs referred to above would, if cut into lumber, make ten thousand car loads, saving the cost of trans- portation down the river, and equally near the ultimate market. As the timber upon neither of the tributaries has been appreciably cut off, the increase would be limited only to the demand, the supply being practically inexhaustible. The timber which covers these hills and valleys consists chiefly of poplar, white oak, and several other varieties, walnut, chestnut, liun, hickory, together with all other varieties native to the temperate zone.
COAL, AND IRON.
Proceeding eastward from the Three Forks upon the section heretofore indicated, we find for the first twenty-five miles from the western limit of the coal two workable strata of a very fine quality, thirty-six to forty-eight inches thick, which for more than half a century has been used by the towns upon the river below, and commanding several cents per bushel more than the best Pittsburgh coal. Its analysis as given in the geological reports shows a very low percentage of sulphur and ash, aud a very high percentage of fixed carbon. It is known as a dry-burning coal, and from this fact is pronounced to be well adapted for use as fuel in smelting iron ore in its raw state, being the same quality used for the past fifteen years in the furnaces at Ashland, Kentucky, where fifty thousand tons are consumed annually. The first stratum lies about fifty feet above the subcarboniferous limestone, which caps the hills near the line of Estill and Lee, with a dip eastward and southward corresponding to that of the coal and other stratifications. It is chiefly an oolitic stone, superior for building, making a pure lime and an excellent flux. It passes beneath the river just below the Three Forks, and is not seen again until it appears in the Cumberland uplift nearly one hundred miles eastwardly. Lying immediately upon this limestone, and more or less imbedded in it, is a fine carbonate of iron ore, known as the Red river or car-wheel ore, which is exposed in good workable position in the eastern portion of Estill and the western part of Lee counties, where it has been in years past smelted in considerable quantities. Latterly, bowever, the production has beeu limited, owing to the lack of transportation and the general reduction of the price of iron. The second workable stratum of coal is about seventy-five feet above the first, from which it is separated by a thick sand- stone, and is in turn capped by a heavy conglomerate sandstone, which gives the name and defines the position of the two families of coals in the Eastern Coal Field lying above or below it. Ahove this conglomerate sandstone, in the region about the Three Forks, is another iron ore, a stratified limonite, kuown as the Hocking Valley ore. It is abundant and easily gotten The Standiford Residence. out, being near the tops of the hills in beds four or five feet thick, and is an excellent cheap ore for mixing with other ores. All of these formations disappear as we go eastward, passing with the dip beneath the surface, and being succeeded as we approach the line of Breathitt county, by Cannel and coking coals, of which there are many strata, sometimes exclusively of one kind and sometimes com- posite, a vein of Cannel coal being not unfrequently found super-imposed upon a vein of coking coal, and vice versa, the succession continuing until we reach the Cumberland uplift, where all the strata which have been encountered
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in the passage from west to east and successively passed heneath the surface have been again raised above drainage. The Cannel coal, which is found also in the valleys of the Licking and Big Sandy, embracing eight or ten counties, is the largest field of coal of that variety in Europe or America, and compares favorably with, if indeed it does not excel, the best foreign or native Cannel coals. One of the best displays of it is to be seen in Breathitt county, near Jackson, from the mines near which Frankfort and points along the Kentucky river have had a limited supply by water transportation, its free- dom from popping making it very desirable for use in grates. Generally, it may be said of all these coals, that they are very valuable, not only for fuel, but, being particularly rich in volatile combustible matter and low in moist- ure, they will be in great demand as a material for enriching coal gas whenever transportation is available.
View of Frankfort, State Capital.
two samples-No. I from a face of 103 inches, and No. 2 from a face of 96 inches :
No. 1.
No. 2.
Volatile combustible matter .
29.30
34.10
Fixed carbon
57.40
61.80
Aslı
1.64
2.40
Sulphur .
0.670
0.412
The following analyses of the celebrated Connellsville coal are taken from the Chemical Report of the Pennsyl- vania Geological Survey :
No. I.
No. 2.
Volatile matter
30.107
29.662
Fixed carbon
69.616
55.901
Ash
8.233
II.556
Sulphur.
0.784
1.931
Actual tests of the physical properties of the coke made from this Kentucky coal show a strong, tenacious coke, free from impurities, and yielding most satisfactory result.
Thus it will be seen that a section drawn through the heart of this coal field from the Three Forks of the Kentucky river to the Virginia line, through any of the gaps in the Cumberland mountains, discloses the fact that there are two cheap iron ores on its western boundary, and that through its entire course it ahounds in workable strata of coal of high commercial value.
THE UPPER WATERS OF THE KENTUCKY RIVER.
I have shown the value of the Kentucky river from the Three Forks to its mouth, as a factor in the development of the mountain region of Kentucky, when it shall be locked and dammed throughout its entire course, giving free and uninterrupted transportation at all seasons for the products of the mines, forests, and fields. I propose now to show the value of the tributaries of this remarkable stream, as a further factor in the development of this great coal field. While the natural fall of the streams is gradual and not too great to preclude the possibility of continuing the system of slack- water upon each of the tributaries, it is doubtful whether the water supply in either is abundant or constant enough to make it practical. But nature has so formed the topography of this portion of the State that railroads projected across
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The coking coal is more persistent, and covers a much larger area, as well as being found iu thicker stratification, the extreme limit of the thickness of Cannel coal being rarely higher than four feet, while the strata of the coking coals range much higher. Prof. Procter, our State Geologist, to whom Ken- tucky is indebted for the identification of this coal, and defining its area, says of it :
"This coal has been traced by the Geo- logical Survey over an extended area, carry- ing its excellent quality with respect to high fixed carbon and low sulphur and ash, and re- markable for its uniform thickness."
The following analyses are given hy him of
the coal field can not go across the drainage, but must follow the general course of the rivers. That the time is ripe or fast approaching for the construction of one or more lines converging at the Three Forks, and forming the shortest connection between the Eastern and Western systems, it is only necessary to examine into the canses which demand it.
If a line be drawn from Cumberland Gap east to the Atlantic, and south from the same point to the Gulf, we shall have inclosed the quadrant of a circle embracing more than 250,000 square miles of territory, including the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, together with portions of East Tennessee and Virginia, in which there is not a pound of coal, but a vast body of valuable iron and other minerals lying idle and undeveloped for the want of fuel.
Notable among these deposits is the newly-explored Cranberry iron ore field of North Carolina, where, within seventy-five miles from this Kentucky coal field has been exposed to view a face of magnetic iron ore four hundred feet broad and one hundred feet high, of which General J. T. Wilder, in a letter to the Manufacturers' Record, says there was in sight 40,000,000 tons, now being shipped by circuitons rontes to Allentown, Pennsylvania, Chattanooga, and Birmingham. Intelligent iron men, both from Europe and this country, have visited this wonderful formation, and recognize the fact that it is ridiculous to send this ore to such remote points for reduction-Chattanooga, the nearest, being 248 miles - when within less than one hundred miles are these coking coals of Kentucky, lying in juxtaposition to cheaper ores and to limestone for flux. They have, therefore, set on foot means for the transportation of this ore looking to the erection of furnaces along the border of Kentucky and Virginia, at such points as Cnm- berland, Pennington, and Big Stone Gaps. But, while this would be a great advance upon the pres- ent facilities, and while capital is pouring into that region which the late Prof. W. B. Rogers, Geol- ogist of Virginia, many years ago predicted would be the center of A Market Street Block. iron and steel manufacture in the United States, a careful study of the map will show that these furnaces, if the natural laws of transportation and distribution are regarded, should be located, not in Virginia upon the eastern, but in Kentucky upon the western border of the coal field.
The reasons for this conclusion are briefly these : The distance from the Cranberry ore field to the eastern horder is about seventy-five miles, and by liberal calculation from thence to the western border at the Three Forks of the Ken- tucky river is one hundred miles, making a total of one hundred and seventy-five miles. Here would he found in the same hill, limestone, coal for smelting, which would not need coking, and two kinds of iron ore, the car-wheel carhonate and the Hocking Valley limonite, for mixing with the richer ores of North Carolina and the hematites, the Clinton and Bessemer ores, of south-west Virginia. It will be readily admitted, that with a railroad connecting these points, sound policy would suggest that the North Carolina ores, when once loaded on cars, should rather be unloaded at the Three Forks of the Kentucky river than the Virginia line, if the conditions for reduction were only equal, since the further transportation would be in the direct route to a market for the manufactured product. But when the conditions are altogether more favorable for the Three Forks, the argument is unanswerable. What are these :
First : The locality which I recommend for the reduction furnaces is within one hundred and seventy-five miles of the center of population of the United States, as shown by the census of 1880-a few miles south-west of Cincinnati, and about half way between the North Carolina ore field and both Cincinnati and Louisville, being, therefore, one hundred miles nearer than the Virginia border to these centers of distribution, and to St. Louis, Chicago, and the great west.
Second : It is at the head of what will be the permanent slack-water navigation of the Kentucky river, which, when the works now being prosecuted by the United States Government are completed, as they will be in a short time, if the voice of Kentucky is heard at Washington as it should be, will give uninterrupted navigation to both Lonisville and Cincinnati.
Third : Should it be deemed desirable or necessary to use the coking coals, the haul to this point, from the Cum- berland range and intermediate points, would he down grade. Besides, as a distributing point for coke, it would be the nearest place of supply to the furnaces of the west and north-west, and the same advantages of proximity to market and cheapness of raw material and fuel would enable the product of the furnaces and mines to be produced and sold at a correspondingly less rate than the products of Birmingham, Chattanooga, or points on the Virginia border.
These considerations at once force upon onr attention the importance of a railroad through the heart of this coal field to which I have previously referred. The problem of the connection of the North-western and South-eastern
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systems of railroads by more direct lines of communication is one which has long engaged the study of engineers and capitalists, but until this new demand sprang up the obstacles have seemed too great to warrant the expense. With, however, the transportation of the North Carolina ores for reduction in Kentucky furnaces as the prime object, other collateral interests are presented which, upon reflection, will demonstrate that such road or roads as indicated by me will not only serve the original purpose of its projectors, but hoth from the traffic in coal, coke, and lumber, become at once a paying investment as developing local freights. It would also assume importance as a link in the shortest line connecting the two systems, giving new outlets from the West to the East, and making the closest connection
From Harper's Magazine.
Copyright, 1837, by Harper & brothers.
GRAVE OF DANIEL BOONE, FRANKFORT.
between Chicago and the Atlantic ocean at Charleston, as the distance would be shorter than from Chicago to New York. For all such purposes it would have the advantage of all other roads which could cross this coal field ; since, while they would describe and follow the arc, it would follow the chord.
A new era will he opened in Kentucky when once this great coal field shall be penetrated by such a road or roads. Although I have shown that twenty or thirty counties are, from their relations to the Kentucky river, directly interested in its improvement, and the construction of railroads up its tributaries, the advantageous results will not be limited to that section of the State, but will be felt hy every portion of it. Louisville will he benefited almost beyond calcula- tion, for into her lap will be poured the wealth derived from mine and forest. The product of the ores reduced at the Three Forks will be brought here for manufacture, and she will become, even more than she now is, the distributing point of the South-west, and her manufactures multiplied by the increased abundance of iron and lumber. A great demand will spring up at once for capital and labor, and a new field for enterprise opened for the energetic young meo who now, for the want of such home demand, annually seek homes in the West or elsewhere, to the impoverishment of Kentucky. By promoting such an opening we shall make a place for them to emigrate to without leaving the State,
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and thus the annual surplus of population, represented by the young men attaining their majority in the agricultural districts, will find ample field in the mountains for that energy and thrift which have done so much to develop the newer States. Not only this, hut it will bring back to us thousands of Kentuckians who, having emigrated to other States for lack of employment here, will gladly return to invest or labor in a field so full of promise, and richer in possible results thau even the fabled wealth of California. The dawn of this era is upon us, and the best omen lies in the great interest taken in our material development by our own people. That it may be fraught with the best results for the whole State should be the aim of every Kentuckian who has pride in his State, and wishes to see her maintain her proper positiou in the great march of progress which marks this period of our country's history.
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Louisville and Kentucky.
'S the commercial metropolis of Kentucky, drawing its vigor and wealth from the abundance that is brought from the State to seek exchange, Louisville's future possibilities can not be adequately gauged without understanding fully the resources and development of Kentucky. A report pre- pared in 1886 for the Treasury Department, on the Internal Commerce of Kentucky, by H. A. Dudley, United States Treasury expert, is used for that purpose, with such changes as are required by the development since the preparation of that report.
In a State whose area is so large as that of Kentucky, lying between the two extremes of climate in this country, a considerable diversity in products of the soil, is to be expected, and the rewards of agriculture ought naturally to occupy a leading place upon the list of the people's wealth.
A cursory glance even will show that this is really the case in this vigorous firstborn of Old Virginia's progeny. First, and principal, must be esteemed the tobacco crop, among the widely varied farm growths of the State. For nearly a century this has been a source of steady and substan- tial profit, and within the last fifty years has added more to the wealth of the State at large than all other crops combined. It will scarcely be believed, but since 1856 Kentucky leaf tobacco, according to reliably kept records, has netted to the grower not less than $267,000,000, and the distribution of this enormous sum has been so geu- eral that there is scarcely a county in the State that has not had its share of it.
Next in order follow the cereals. all of which are grown to perfection, and to an extent which, iu an ordinary crop year, is certain to provide a surplus for sale and export to other less favored sections. The production and home manufacture of hemp -- a few years ago one of the largest and most lucrative of Kentucky's industries-has only declined because of an insufficient tariff protection and the importation of Indian fibers, as we have shown under that section relating par- ticularly to this product. Cotton is not grown to any great extent in the State, but is drawn from other Southern States as one of the leading articles of transport to the East and North, both by rail and river.
The breeding of fine cattle and horses bas for many years attracted a large sbare of attention in Kentucky, and at the present time large capital is invested in this branch of business. It is to be regretted that no statistics are obtainable to show the precise extent and results of the industry ; but that it deserves to be classed among the principal ones of the State there can be no doubt. As to sheep and swine, the records are more satisfactory, and the same may be said of the growing of mules for market, which latter has been for many years a source of considerable revenue.
With regard to purely natural re- sources, it must be confessed, how- ever reluctantly, that Kentucky is far behind her Southern neighbors in their development. That this is not due to any lack of materials will be best understood from the mineral statistics and geology of the State presented in this report. The fact AN OLD KENTUCKY HOME. that our people have been so long dis- tinctively agricultural may partly account for the neglect of these great sources of wealth, but the main truth is that the mineral belts lie off from transportation routes as a rule, and are awaiting these before they can be best developed. Only in the item of coal has any progress toward development been made worthy of the name, and even in this the enormous veins have scarcely been touched.
MECHANICAL INDUSTRIES.
Coming now to the industries classed as mechanical, the State makes a better showing. According to the decennial census reports, Kentucky, in 1860, had 2,478 establishments, with an invested capital of $11,456,942. These consumed that year materials valued at $17, 147,301, and turned out products valued at $26,608,163. In 1870 the number of estah-
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lishments was reduced, by consolidation principally, to 2,204, but the capital invested amounted to $21,874,385, and materials valued at $22,598,651 were used to produce goods aggregating $40,629,811 in value in the market. At the close of the next decade, the census shows 2,975 establishments of this kind, with a total capital of $36,362,477, consuming materials valued at $41,855,937, and producing articles worth $63,912,145. In 1885, beyond which year our figures are not extended, the number of establishments grew to 5,219, having a capital of $57,208,614, consuming materials valued at $60,832,462, and turning out products aggregating $103,303,659 in value. It is scarcely necessary to say that this is a most magnificent showing, and worthy to be compared with that of any other Southern State. The subjoined tables furnish the details of this achievement, whose merits may be better seen by the following recapitulation :
Decrease in number of establishments between 1860-70
274
Increase in number of establishments between 1870-80
771
Increase in number of establishments between 1880-85
2,244
Increase in aggregate capital-
Between 1860-70 $10,417,443
Between 1870-So 14,488,092
Between 1880-85 .
20,846, 137
Increase in value of materials used-
Between 1860-70
$ 5.451,330
Betweeu 1870-80
19,257,286
Between 1880-85 .
18,976,525
Increase in value of products-
Betweeu 1860-70
$14,021,648
Between 1870-80
23,282,334
Between 1880-85
39,391,514
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.
In these, Kentucky is annually extending her commercial resources and opportunities. A large increase has been made in her railway mileage, and new enterprises of this kind are in a fair way to be speedily realized. Although sadly embarrassed by the rail routes, the varions river routes still continue to afford important aid to the commerce of the State ; but, as intimated in another place in this report, the advantage of rapid transit and the extension of lines to sea- board markets, to say nothing of the growing length of parallel lines to the main water-courses of the Ohio and Missis- sippi Valleys, all combine to make steamboat competition unprofitable. Then the superior organization of the railroads for soliciting, storing, and handling freights is another advantage the river can never have. Added to these drawbacks, steamboatmen have adopted a fashion of rate-cutting before which the best efforts of rival trunk railway lines fall into insignificance.
For the year 1885 the United States Bureau of Commerce and Navigation reports a total of eighty-one steam ves- sels in the custom districts covering all the Western rivers. Of these, Kentucky has fifteen, Indiana five, and Ohio ten.
The table showing the amount of merchandise received and shipped by river at Louisville is the best commentary upon the situation that can be made. The relative magnitude of the business done by the railroads centering at Louis- ville stands out boldly in the last four columns of that table, where the receipts aud shipments for two years are given in contrast with corresponding transactions by river.
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