| From the Richmond Dispatch |
| |
| January 2, 1862 |
| |
| Coal, iron, salt, &c |
| Editors of the Dispatch: |
| I find that much is said at
this time in favor of connecting the Richmond & Danville Virginia
Railroad with the North Carolina Railroad at Greensborough. North
Carolina, or some other prominent point. |
| I have ever believed it would
be of inestimable value to the Southern Confederacy. It should not be
a road only of transportation across the
States, but located with an eye to the immense mineral wealth
deposited in the valley of Dan river and Town Fork. Here, we have
inexhaustible beds of coal, iron ore, marble, white, blue, and gray
limestone, serpentine and porcelain clay, &c. |
| Besides, the Buffalo Wallow,
three miles south of Germantown, in Stokes county, derived its name
from the great lick for wild animals that was common in this country,
and has ever been looked upon as favorable for salt water. |
| With all these things before
us, it does seem that thirty minutes time would be but a bubble in the
Southern Confederacy in comparison to the great wealth it will
develops to the States. Do not these things at least entitle the Dan
River Coalfield Railroad {this is the only
reference to this road I have ever seen} to a reasonable
inspection before the final connexion is ordered? |
| The road is willing to submit
its minerals and prospects to the best geologists South, and abide
their decision for the general good of all. |
|
We hope that all the papers that
favor this connexion will insert the above, so that this Government
shall have every advantage that this country affords. |
| A Citizen of Stokes Country |
|