West Virginia Democrat. [volume], June 03, 1887, Image 2

About West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890

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Wet Virgin tom.
Thomas H. Mason, Business Managre
A PROPOSITION.
The editorials of the Wellsburg
Herald show more ability and more
honesty those in any other Republi
can pa|*er of this State, coming to
this office. And we are informed by
persons from Brooke that its editor
is a man of conviction, “whose opin
ions do not change with the finan
cial necessities of its pa|>er. ’ It
has pleased the Herald, on several
occasions, to say of the Democrat
what we now say of it.
The Herald advocates the Prohi
bition Amendment, and the Demo
crat is opposed to it. lhe Herald
makes some reply to one ot our edi
torials on this subject, but d«>es not
give to its readers our view or ourj
argument. We make a proposition |
to the Herald: It* it will copv what.
we say we will copy its reply. In|
this wav the people of t! e State will
have before them a fair and intelli- j
gent discussion that will give them !
what can be said on both sides;
thev may then vote understanding!)*, j
The discussion is to be limited to j
articles uot exceeding COO words in f
length—and the shorter the better.
Will the Herald accept our proposi
tion?
Mr. Jefferson’s letter may find an
audience among men who profess to
be Democrats.
‘•Revolutions proceed like the acts
of a drama, and each act is divided
into scenes which follow one another j
with singular uniformity. Ruling
powers make themselves hated by
usurpations and incapacity. An op
]>osition is formed against them, com- |
posed or all sorts, lovers of order
ami lovers of disorder, reasonable
men and fanatics, business like men |
and men of theory. The opposition
succeeds: the government is over- j
thrown: the victors divide into a ,
moderate party and an advanced
party. The advanced party go to ;
the front, till they discredit them
selves with crime or folly. The
wheel has then gone round, and the
reaction sets in.”
_ i
“Political convulsions work in a
groove, the direction of which varies j
iittlc in any age or country. Insti-;
tutions once sufficient and salutary
become unadapted to a change of
circumstances. The traditionary
holders of power sec their intereests
threatened. They are jealous of in
novations. They look on agitators '
for reform as felonious persons dc- .
siring to appropriate what does not \
belong to them. The complaining
parties are conscious of suffering, |
and rush blindly on the superficial
causes of their immediate distress.” i
--
“The disposition to believe evil of!
men who have risen a few degrees
above their contemporaries m a it-a- |
tore of human nature as common as
it is base.”
——————— ■■■!■»
WHY THE STATE IS POOR.
—
Those acquainted with the facts '
well understand that unless railroad 1
discrimination is prevented our
home population must grow rapidly I
]>oorer. while a few shrewd men, in
combination with railroad officials, •
will acquire almost fabulous wealth
by the development of the resources
of this State. Not only so, but it is
perfectly well known, to those ac- :
quaiuted with the facts, that if rail- i
road diseriminaton had been pre- t
vented fifteen years ago our native
population would now be a.-> pros
perous us any people is this world.
’The present lull in politics offers a (
favorable opportunity to bring this ,
subject bofote thoughtful men and ,
to present to them a few of the many
facts they should consider.
1111 mediately after the completion
of the ('hesajM'ake a- Ohio railroad j
certain official' of that corporation
organized a company for the pur
j*oso of buying the coal and lumber
along the line and selling it at a
profit in the open markets. It was
called the t'oal A Lumber Agency,)
and it had secret rates and facilities
for transportation which weredenied
to other shippers. The profits of1
this Agency were, of course, conceal
ed, but it is apparent that such an
Agency, composed of railroad offi
cials, couhi not only fix the priee
of whatever it wished to purchase,
but, since other buyers were dis
eriininated against, it could and did
at once obtain exclusive control of
the local market. It soon came
about that this Agency allowed the
home producer n margin of earnings
barely sufficient to enable him to
continue in business. In 1881 a
committee of the Legislature made
a partial examination into the facts
about this Agency, and we copy a
few extracts from the testimony
printed in the Journal of that year:
Mr. Berry, a coal operator of Fay
ette county, testified:
The l-juai A Lumber Agency is
according to the genera! understand
ing among sliipiHire. comp>08cd of
Fitch A Hatch, of New York. Hatch
is the first vice president of the C.
A* O. My first contract with the
Agency was three years ago.
Mr. Mohler, a manufacturer of
lumber at Charleston, testified:
My understanding is, General
Wickham, second vice president of
the 0. A ()., is treasurer of the
Agencv. W. L. Rawson is its pur
chasing agent and Green is its in
spector. He always gives us a sight
draft on General Wickham. When
the road buys lumber the inspection
is not as strict as that made by the
Agency.
Mr. Faulkner, a coal operator at
Goal Valley, testified:
In 1.S78, General Wickham wrote
me that I must ship through the
Agencv and that I could not ship
unless l did.
Let the public consider whether
it was possible for our native popu
lation, along rhe line of the 0. A O.,
to obtain fair prices for their prop
el ty when they were obliged to sell
the coal and lumber to au agency
composed of the officials of that cor
poration. Let the public consider
what was likely to be the profit of
this Agency and what was likely to
be the profit of the owner of the
property. Let the public consider
w hat would be the present condition
of the country along the C. A 0. if
our home population had been able
to use the railroad on an equality
with those who were interested in
this Agency.
In reading this testimony no one
can fail to observe the difficulty that
is always encountered whenever any
attempt is made to bring before the
people facts which railroad man
agers wish kept secret. In this con
nection three things should always
be remembered:
1. The railroad managers have in
their employ the ablest talent money
can secure;—and the public using
the road furnish the money to pay
for this talent.
2 The moment any man of recog
nized capacity evinces a determina
tion to render ctlicieut service to
protect the public against such a
wrong, that man is singled out and
against him is at once arrayed the
most powerful influences that ever
existed in any country.
3. The chief aim of the railroad
managers is to exclude from the
public service and to exclude from
tin* ears of tlu* people true and ca
pable men who are willing and able
to do their duty in tlu* Legislature
or in ('ongress.
When these three things are re
membered, it is surprising that this
investigation uneaithcd even the few
tacts that were brought to light, and
when we consider that our modern
politicians, with very rare exeptions.
stand in mortal dread of the railroad
influence: when we consider that
almost the entire newspaper press of
this State is always silent upon
matters which the railroad man
agers wish kept from the people, it is
not at all surprising that the testi
mony. printed, in lSSI, made no
lodgment on the public ear. Expe
p«*rienee proves that its \\ est \ ir
ginia any proposition for the benefit
of our native population falls still
born, whereas, any proposition to
strip then, of their property for the
benefit of strangers is hailed as
progress and as enterprise. Hut the
question comes back to thoughtful
men. where will this lead to, and
what will be the condition of our na
tive population uniess some new
method and new policy be speedily
adopted.
The following extracts from the
testimonv will give some idea of the
eifect this agency had on local enter
prise.
Mr. Faulkner testified:
1 -(»ld mv coal to the best advati
tage until after the creation »d the
Agorn v but have been compelled to
sell toil since 1878. Although I have
$:HMK>0 to $40,000 in the business
and have employed from fifty to sev
enty hands, I have lost during that
time about $2,500 counting nothing
at all for my personal services. I
could not live were it not for the
profit on the store that I keep for
the accomodation of the miners. It
is the same case with all ttie opera
tor- in gas coal in that region. No
man can ship to the Eastern mar
kets at the regular rates on the C. dr
O. and make a profit. When the
price of coal rises the company raises
the freight. The agency is enabled
to monopolizetiie wholecoal trade of
the Kanawha and New River region.
If a man does not ship through the
agency his rates are so high that he
canuot ship at a profit. The agency
ca n “taboo" any one who offends
them. It is generally understood
that some men are favorites and get
cars without trouble while others
cannot. These men are of course
satisfied, ( apt. W. R. Johnson is,
considered one of the favorites. He ,
can always get plenty of cars when!
I ran get none. The result is, my |
miners leave and go to Johnson.
Refore coming here to testily 1 saw
, Johnson carrying around a petition
against the passage of the bill. The
last time I saw General Wickham,
which was last month, I asked for a
rate to Huntington. He referred
me to the card rate which is seventy
five cents. Mr. Wyant told me that
he had a rate to Huntington at fifty
five cents. When I sold coal to the
agency I drew my draft on General
Wickham. When in Richmond a
few days ago, I met a couple of gen
tlemen, an English and a Scothman.
Thev told me they had been to Gen.
Wickham and inquired aboutbuying
lumber along bis road in West \ ir
‘duia, and he referred them to Mr.
Hatch. They said they went to see
Mr. Hatch and he told them that if
they did not buy from the agency,in
stead of from the parties owning lum
ber in West Virginia, they would be
frozen out.
Mr. Smith, a lumber dealer of
Monroe county, testified:
The New York Hoop company
have a rate $3.50 less than the usual
rate.
Mr. Foote, a lumber manufacturer
of Charleston, testified:
The C. A 0. made a large advance
to my brother to enable him to in
crease his lumber business,
Mr. Forsythe, a lumberman of
Charleston, testified:
I have been shipping lumber on
the road for seven years. From my
information I believe that all the
logs shipped to Richmond go through
, the Agency and also one-half of the
manufactured lumber. Under the
system which has been adopted the
company and the Agency together
have got substantially entire control
of the log and lumber business on the
road.
These extracts by no means ex
haust the evidence which was then
obtained, but they prove conclusive
ly a condition of affairs which, if it
were comprehended by the rank and
iile of voters, would insure the elec
tion of men able and willing to pro
vide the legislation that is needed.
Unfortunately, the machinery of
party is largely in the hands of per
sons who find a profit in promoting
private enterprises like the C. A O.
purchasing Agency. Unfortunately,
j the general public lias not been able
to distinguish between the men who
serve the people faithfully and the
men who sacrifice the people in order
to earn favors from railroad man
agers. Our native population will
not prosper, until voters learn to
distinguish between these two
' classes of men.
^— •
THE SENATORSHIP.
Experience proves that a judge
seeking political office is apt to use
his official position to win votes and,
hence, the framers of our State Con
stitution decided that the best way
to preserve the integrity of the Ju
diciary was to make judges ineligi
ble to any political ollice. It, there
fore. provides:
No judge during his term of ollice shall
hold anv other ollice, appointment or
public trust, under this, or any other
government, and the acceptance there
of, shall vacate his judicial office: nor
shall ho, nrnixu ins (-ontifawk
1 THEltEIN, HE ELIOII1I.F. To ANY FOI.ITI
1 CAL OFFICE.
On one side it is argued that the
Federal Constitution determines the
, qualifications of a Senator and a
State cannot add to those qualifica
tions. On the other side, it is ar
gued that the Federal Constitution
does not go farther than to say who
shall not be a member of the Senate,
and, therefore, it is entirely compe
tent for a State to add other qualifi
1 cations. For example, France may
declare, “no person shall be an am
bassador to that Government who
shall not have attained the age of
thirty,” and in such o:(fce, the law of
this country might well provide,
“that no person shall be an ambas- j
sador who cannot speak French and
who is not a native.”
It is further argued, that even al
though a State may not add to the
qualifications mentioned in the Con
stitution, yet a State has full author- j
ily to provide that certain of her
own citizens shall be ineligible to a (
particular ollice. In other words, it ;
is competent for the State Coustitu- .
lion to provide that a judge shall j
not be eligible for any political of- !
lice.
1 he only provision in the federal j
Constitution bearing upon this point
is as follows:
No person shall be a Senator w lfo shall
not have attaiued to the age of 30, and
l>een nine years a citizen of the t\ S.
and who shall not, when elected, lx' an j
inhabitant of that State for which ho :
shall be chosen.
The State Constitution provides:
No judge, * * * during his continu
ance in that office, shall be eligible to
any political office.
When a vacancy is already exist
ing, the term of a Senator commen
ces at the very moment of time when
he is declared “duly elected," and, if i
at that moment he holds the ofllceof
judge, he is, under the State Consti
tution, ineligible. If ineligible,when ■
elected, of course, his subsequent'
resignation does not cure the disa- j
iiility.
Tlie following letter by Mr. Jef
ferson will be read with interest: .
Moxticeli.o, Jan. IS, 1814.
Joseph C Cabell, Esq—Dear
Sir* . You ask my opinion on the
question, whether the States can add
any qualifications to thofe which
the Constitution has prescribed for
their members of Congress? It is a
question I had never before reflected
on; yqt had taken up an off-hand
opinion that the}' could not. That
to add new qualifications to those of
the Constitution, would he as much
an alteration as to detract from them.
And so I think the House decided
in some ease; I believe that a mem
ber from Baltimore. But your letter
having induced me to look into the
Constitution and to consider the
question a little, I am again in your
predicament, of doubting the cor
rectness of my first opinion. Had
the Constitution been silent, nobody
can doubt but that the right to pre
scribe all the qualifications and dis
qualifications of those they would
send to represent them, would have
belonged to the State. So also the
Constitution might have prescribed
the whole and excluded all others.
It seems to have preferred the mid
dle way. It has exercised the power
in part, by declaring some disqual
ifications. But it does not declare,
itself, that the member shall not be
a lunatic, a convict of murder or a
non-resident of his district. Nor
docs it prohibit to the State the
power o!‘ declaring these, or any
other, disqualifications which its
particular circumstances may call
tor; and these may be different in
different States. Ot course, then, by
the tenth amendment, the power
is reserved to the State. If,
whenever the Constitution assumes
a single power out of many which
belong to same subject, we should
consider it as assuming the whole it
would vest the General Government
with a mass of powers never contem
plated. On the contrary, the as
sumption of particular powers seems
an exclusion of all not assumed.
This reasoning appears to me to be
sound; but, on so recent a change of
view, caution requires us not to he
too confident, and we admit this to
be one of the doubtful questions on
which honest men may differ with
the purest motives, and the more
readily as we find we have differed
from oversetves on it.
(Jefferson’s Complete Works, vol.O,
p. 80ft.) _
THE M'GLYNN INCIDENT.
Louisville Courier-Journal.
There are very few conservative
people who sympathize with the sen
timent, or motive, or aim, of the ab
surd George-McGlynn movement in
the East, albeit those men are mere
ly endeavoring, in a public and law
ful manner, to influence popular
opinion and collect a party to push
their theories by legal methods.
The}' are entitled to the full protec
tion of the law, therefore, and are
exercising the unassailable right of
free speech, than which none is hot
ter hedged and more sacredly guard
ed by constitutional muniments.
But a foreign authority, in the per
son of the Pope, is interfering with
that right, as exercised by Citizen
McGlynn. The Pope has notified
him once anti again that it would be
as well for him to hold his peace,
but the Anti-poverty apostle, as he
calls himself, has been' rebellious,
not to say defiant. His Holiness
has summoned him to appear at
Pome in forty days, or be excom
municated for his contumacy. Mc
Glynn retuses to go, and will conse
quently be punished by a foreign
power for exercising his rights of
an American citizen on Uncle Sam’s
own domain.
The Papacy has alwa) ■> been firm
ly set against innovations upon the
established order of things and has
always been the very ue /this ultra
of political conservatism. But in
this instance the Pope has been bad
ly advised, and mistakes sadly in
his predicates. There are 7,000,000
Catholic people in this country who
are as patriotic as the hest, but it is
very obvious that they owe it to them
selves to have a clearer understand
ing with the hefad of their church.
Foreign dictation in lawful politics
is not wanted here particularly; and
we arc no more desirous of having
Roman authority exercised in limit
ing the rights of free political action
among our Catholic fellowcitizens
than of having our Irish citizens
acting here under the orders of
Queen Victoria.
Every citizen owes it to the pub
lic, and to the free institutions un
der which he lives here, to hold him
self free and independent of all for
eign allegiances which might inter
fere with the lawful exercise of his
rights as a citizen. And, undoubt
edly, a precedent like this ought not
to be allowed to stand without an
earnest protest against both the fact
and the principle.
The Democrat expressed precise
ly this view more than three weeks
ago.
CORPORATIONS IN POLITICS.
Baltimore Sun.
The question of corporate influ
ence in the country presents itself in j
two aspects, eacli of equal- import
ance. The business relations of cor
porations to the public, and especi- I
ally such corporations as are common !
carriers, have received of late yeirs ,
a large share of public attention,and
will continue to do so until they are j
brought under proper subjection to
wholesome laws and made to under-*
stand that they are public servants
and not masters, a fact of which
they seem supremely ignorant. An
other relation, in which they are
quite as aggressive anil even more
pernicious to the public good, is
their political corruption and mn
nipulation, which has been so con
spicuous in many States of the
Union. While it was Tweed and
his co-plunderers who brought dis
grace upon municipal administra
tion in New York, we must not for- j
get that dim Fisk and the corpora
tion scoundrels who combined with
him were the chief destroyers of ju- '
dieial and legislative integrity in the
Empire State. Things were carried ,
so far and with such a high hand j
that public indignation was at last
aroused, and the low methods and
criminal practices which corporation
managers found congenial to their
tastes and necessary to their ends
were at last destroyed, or at least so
I crippled as to be no longer an over
shadowing disgrace to the State.
The same course has been run else
where, and notably in Pennsylvania,
Illinois and other States, where cor
poration influence was so baneful to
politics and business alike that leg
islation was found impossible to ,
remedy the wrongs until the people’s
' needs were formulated in new con- j
stitutions, which commanded also j
legislative obedience. Even then, m |
one of the States, the corporate pow '
er of the State was so potent that j
the constitutional provisions were |
i permitted to “lie in dull oblivion and
to rot” for more than twelve years,
before the legislative conscience was
quickened to obedience by the oaths
administered and by the public
voice. It became almost an axiom
at one time that in the struggle for
honest government against the pow
er of the railroad corporations the
cause of the people had no chance of
SUCeCSS. 1 ue people ui luurse i\m «,
from the beginning, that the rail
roads and canals belonged of right
to the State for the use of the peo
ple, and that the corporations hav
ing them in charge were really but
the agents of the public to run them
for their owners, and yet so myste
rious, corrupt and powerful was the
iniluence of these selfish and soul
, less bodies over the law-making
power that it was simply impossible
to hold them to their duties and re
sponsibilities. Their security in
wrongdoing being dependent upon
the power of their lobbies to control
legislation, of course one step, and a
very important one, was to see that
such pliant tools were sent to the
Legislature as could be used to cheat (
the public whenever the cupidity of
their masters required it. This has
led to every sort of political manip
ulation and interference—not open
ly, so that the mailed hand could he
| seen, but through agents, attorneys
and hungers on, who fawn or bull
doze as best suits their cold, calcu
lating purpose. Not only have eon
j ventions been packed lime and
i again, but it is safe to say that bal
lot-boxes have been more often
stuffed in their interest than for all
other interests combined.
As we before said, public atten
tion is being awakened and directed
everywhere to these cold-blooded en
emies of the public good. The peo
ple are beginning to realize that they
are the masters, and have the reuie
dy in their own hands. They ap- j
i preeiate as never before the enormi I
| tv of these creatures of the public,
: whose very life was breathed into
their nostrils that they might serve
the public and promote its general
good, impudently assuming to ignore
the power that made them, to per
vert the purposes for which they
were made, and even attempting to !
debauch the State by so corrupting
and defiling its sovereignty as to
make it their mere tool and play
thing. I he people of this good state
must not delude themselves into the
belief that they are freer from corpo
; ration influences than others who
have found it necessary to rise in
their mighi and put them down.
The worst thing that could befall us
—bad as other evils may be—would
be to permit the political control of
the State to pass into the hands of
our corporations, their agents or at
torneys. It was aptly and strongly
said by one who waged ail endless
war upon corporate wrongs that
“there is no other subject upon
which the press is so shy as upon
this, the ino3t important of all.
Afraid to oppose the corrupt corpo
rations. and ashamed to defend them,
it sinks into silent neutrality. Pru
dent politiciansalwnvswant a smooth
road to run on, and the right path
here is full of impediments. In this
state of things we seem to be weaker
than we really are, for the unhroKen
heart of the people is on the side of
justice, equality and truth. Monop
olists may sneer at our blundering
leadership, but they had better be
think them that when the worst
conies to the worst our raw,militia
is numerous enough to overwhelm
their regulars, well paid and well
drilled as they are. They have de
stroyed the business of hundreds for j
one they have favored. For every
millionaire they have made ten
thousand paupers, and the injured
parties lack no gall to make oppres- !
sion bitter.*’ It is in just this state
of things t hat the independent news
paper demonstrates its value by its
course in behalf of the people.
CONVICTS TO MAKE BRICK.
The directors of the Penitentiary
have determined to put the unem
ployed convicts at work making
brick for the new building, which
will require between 000.000 and
700,000 brick.
The contracts on which the pris
onets are now employed will shortly
expire, and, at the recent meeting
of the board, no bids were received
for the now idle prisoners. One of J
the directors is reported l»y the //i- |
(elligeticer to have said, "ihat it
will be necessary to hunt up some
class of work that will not enter into
eoinpetion with anv private enter
prise. and he proposes to make fur
nittire for the public schools because
there is no one in that business in i
the State.” With due respect, we ,
pronounce this unadulterated non
sense. The penitentiary should be
conducted on business principles.
The convicts should he emploved in
whatever way will best contribute to
making the penitentiary pay its ex
penses. Unless it does, the people
must be taxed maintain this itisti
tutiou. The directors have nothing
whatsoever to do with the competi
tion between different industries;
their first duty is to maintain proper
discipline and their second duty is,
to save tax payers all the money
they can.
Reinforcing the Interstate Com- ;
merge Law.—The Michigan Legis- ,
laturc has passed the ‘ Rogers bill
for regulating traffic rates on tlie
railroads in that Stale. It prohibits
pooling; prohibits the charging of a
larger or an equal sum for a short
haul than for a long one; forbids
charging one person a greater rate
than another for similar service; re
quires all roads to post placards of
passenger and freight rates in con
spicuous places in depots, and fixes
the penalties for violations of the
law.
Let the public remember, the rail
road managers defeated the Chew
bill at the extra session. In Michi
gan, the people rule; in W csl \ ir
ginia, the railroad managers.
An Important Railroad Enterprise.
A dispatch from Parkersburg, W.
Ya., says:
“Work was begun Saturday on
the Black Diamond Railroad, which I
is projected from this eitv to Clifton
Forge Ya. Work was begun in or
der to hold certain voted subscrip
tions, which would otherwise expire
about the middle of June, but the
work will be prosecuted in good faith
and there is at last every assurance
that the road will be speedily com
pleted. Indeed, to those who are on
the inside of matters there can hard
ly be a doubt of this. The board of
directors were in session here Tliurs
day and Friday. Judge Higley and
E. J. Granger, of New York, were in
conference with the hoard. Mr.
Granger will sail in a few days for
London to perfect arrangements
with the syndicate which was rep
resented here last fall by Archibald
Fairlie, F. B. S., the eminent civil
engineer. Within two or three weeks
we shall know exactly what the
English syndicate will do, but the
present chances are largely that
tliev will furnish the capital to con
struct the entire road. It will begin
at Parkersburg, extend thro’ Wood,
Wirt, Calhoun, Gilmer, Braxton,
Webster and Pocahontas counties,
West Virginia, and Bath and Alle
ghany counties, Virginia.! . inerting
at Clifton Forge with the Chesa
peake and Ohio.'’
OPINIONS OK US.
EVERY WORD TRUE.
Fayette, May 31.—In renewing
my subscription I will add a word |
for publication.
The State will go Republican un
less we convince the people that our
party will carry out in good faith
the principles so ably and so dis
tinctly set forth in your paper, the j
only paper in this State, so far as I
can see, that comes square up to the
mark. Our party will be judged by
the expressions of its politicians,and
these politicians will follow what
they think is the popular current.
The circulation of the Democrat
does good in this way: People read
it and say. “those arc my sentiments
exactly.” Politicians hearing these
expressions take the hint and the
next moment are speaking out the
very things the Democrat has said.
I have seen enough of politics to
know that i( such a paper at this
time had 10.000 readers our next j
candidates would be men who, as
you put it, “gay what they mean and :
mean what they say,” and with such
candidates our majority will be over
10.000. I therefore appeal to Demo
crats to do as I am doing and extend
your circulat ion as much as they can. :
The more the paper is read the better
it is liked, and it comes nearer being
a fair exponent of sound Democracy I
than any I have met with in 20 years.
The truth is, our party can not get
along without it, and it is only a
question whether it will be distrib
uted among the people in time to set
them thinking tor the next cam
paign. * * * It should be read
by all the young lawyers who expect!
to take a hand in politics and desire
to be posted as to the matters most
popular with the bone and sinew of
the party. They can get an educa
tion from it they will not get from
any other paper or papers. * * *
The above letter is from a Demo
crai known fur and near lor liis po
litical sagacity.
The ( arson City (N’ev.) I’nion
thus comments on the editorial in
this paper touching the defeat o(
Chew's bill to give our home traflic
protection against railroad discrim
ination
It is evident that the people of
West Virginia are dealing with the
same character of political infamy
that has done so much to stifle the
manhood of our own State of Ne
vada. The following from the W.
Va. Dkmookat lias so many points
that have a familiar sound that the
readers might not strain his fancy
\ei v much to suppose it was writ
ten in Nevada.
Tile salvation of Nevada depends
on the circulation of papers, like the
I’nioH, which are not under railroad
control. It is only a question of
time, when the public will compre
hend the value of such papers. The
railroad managers succeed in thwart
ing legislation, simply because the
press barricades access to the ear of
the people.
Virginia's Slate Pencil Factory.
Sun,
CiiAHKi.oTTKsvii.i.K, Va., Muy 30.-—
Few know lliat one of the two slate
pencil factories in America Is in
Virginia. The first ever established
in this country is still in operation
in Vermont. For many years Amor
ica looked to the Welsh mines for
supplies ot slate, while great depos
its ol this material lay concealed in
the earth on this side of the Atlan
tic. One of the most extensively
worked is known as the Hocking
ham vein, and the mine is located at
Arvon. The slate quarried at this
mine is used chielly for roofing and
mantels. It hardens with age and
altogether is the most durnole ma
terial used for roofs. The mine of
J. K. Williams A Co., at Arvon, has
been sunk to the great depth of 173
ffot, and is 300 by 170 feet in di
mension.
This same vein runs under the
James river into Fuvanna and Albe
marle counties. In this latter conn
ty is situated the slate pencil facto
ry of Hanning, Canovcr & < «», of
New York. It was not the first .-date
quarry opened in this country, but
was begun upon the failue of the
first—the Albemarle Slate Company
—but on a new line, the manfacture
of slate pencils.
The quarrv from which the slate
is taken is within a few feet of the
factory. The process of manufac
ture is simple, and may be described
in a few words. When the blocks
of slate are brought from the quarry
they arc split into sizes convenient
for handling and are conveyed to the
factory. Here the llakes of slate
pass through three sawings—tin*
first reduces them to long strips, the
second to squares, and the third to
blocks just long enough to make si\
pencils. In this last shape the slate
is passed through a machine which
reduces its size somewhat, and a
second and third machine reduce it
still further; and two other mu
chines reduce the slate to the shape
of the ordinary pencil, except that
the ends arc rough. Of these, one
is sharpened and the other is
smoothed by emery. They are then
sorted, counted and boxed. The
counting is done very expeditiously
by means of a board containing
fifty slots, each of which hojds two
pencils. A handful of the pencils
is taken and spread on the board—
the slots full mean 100 pencils. The
whole product goes to New York,
and this amounts to something like
30.000 per day.
The profits, according to the ad
mission of these o|>crators, are good,
and the cost ot the plant exceeding
ly small—say, #2,300. They give
employment to a large number of
people, who would otherwise find it
hard to make a living among the
huckleberry barrens which surround
the quarry and factory.
RAILWAY STATISTICS.
There are 290,000 miles of railroad
in the world. In 1885 the railway*
ofthcCnited States carried 312,08b,
G41 passengers and 400,453,439 tons
of freight. Each person was traniy
ported an average distance of tw< n
ty-threc miles, hence Hie entire
movement on all the roads was equal
to carrying 8,541,309,674 jH-rsons
one mile. Massachusetts takes the
lead in passenger transportation with
58,800,887; Pennsylvania next, then
New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and
Ohio. In freight tonnage Penusvl
vania takes the lead with 105,705,
91G tons, and Now York second.
There are about twenty-live miles of
double track, sidings, etc., nineteen
locomotives, G21 freight cars, five
baggage and mail, and thirteen pa*
sengers-cars for every 1,000 miles of
railroad in the I’nited States.
Speed is hard to average. The
sixty and seventy-five miles an hour
train is generally a myth. An av
erage of forty-eight and three-tenths
miles per hour is the fastest time in
the I'nited States. This is made on
the Pennsylvania “limited” in It*
run from Jersey City to Philadelphia,
ninety miles, in less than two hours.
The “Flying Dutchman” is supposed
to make the fastest time in the world,
between London and Bristol, J1H |
miles in less than two hours; the av
erage, though, of even this fast train
is only fifty-nine and one-third mile*
per hour. There are several other
trains noted for remarkably fast
time on short distances. Sometimes