iff- ■ > ' .'-"4 ' ■ W^'^M,: '^'■■'■■^^'. V- *. I lA .^. (2M-^^^ THE CITY OK Louisville AND A GLIMPSE OF KENTUCKY. PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL IMPROVEMENT OF THE LOUISVILLE BOARD OF TRADE. 1887. jN Julys, 1773, Captain Thomas Bullitt, at the head of a small company of adventurous pioneers, landed at the mouth of Beargrass creek at the Falls of the Ohio, and pitched his tent in the pri- meval forest that covered the banks of the river. The water was very low at that season of the year, and, at night, to guard against surprise and attack from the savages. Captain Bullitt and his men retreated to the exposed rocks in the river, and slept with pickets out. These dozen men were the first ele- ments of population upon the spot where to-day there is a city, with suburbs, contain- ing 275,000 souls. Captain Bullitt was a land-surveyor, and came to Kentucky to survey, under the warrant of Lord Dunmore, certain lands which were included in what are now Jefferson and Bullitt counties. Before he completed his survey he laid out a town site comprising part of the present citv of Louisville, which was called "Falls of the Ohio." It is curious to observe that from the very first beginnings of settlement in Louisville the unusual advantages of the location were seized upon with prophetic instinct. It was before the days of keel-boats even, but the first-comers recoguized the importance of a location that was at the head of navi- gation, even though the growth of the town must wait upon the settlement of the country west of it and aloug the rivers. From that day in July, 1773, when the feet of the Virginians first trod the forest on the spot where a great and beautiful city was destined to stand, the history of Louisville has grown to represent the characteristic courage, intelli- gence, and enterprise of the people who founded the city. When that history comes to be written by the student who can comprehend the many sides and the many causes of events, it will be found full of the romance of actual heroic achievements, not only in the adventures of the pioneers who settled it, but in the social and commercial enterprises of a people who struggled for seventy-five years under the oppression of a domestic institution that was well-calculated to repress, if not to destroy, all enterprise and practical progress. We shall see, also, that, when the weight of slavery was removed, Louisville, more rapidly than any other city in the slave-holding .States, comprehended the new order of things, and, before half a generation was sped, had made such an organic change in the character of her interests as to place her upon equal terms with those cities that had beeu built up in the North by the intelligence, the thrift, and industry of free labor. Although Captain Bullitt laid out a town site, and a house was built at the mouth of Beargrass the year following, yet the times were not propitious for settlement, and years passed before the town was to be inspired with life. These years were full of feeling on the part of the people against the Virginia government, which was accused of indifference towards the outlying county of Fincastle, which then comprised the present State of Kentucky. Finally Kentucky was created a sovereign State three years after the town of Louisville had been laid out and incorporated. The town was founded upon a tract of one thousand acres of land which had been owned by John Connelly who had forfeited it by being an active Tory during the war with England. Louisville was named for Louis XVI., the ill-fated victim of the F'rench Revo- lution. There was alread}- a nucleus of French settlers at the Falls corresponding with the movement of F'rench gen- erally through the North-west Territory. Gratitude to the French king for declaring against England in the War of the Revolution suggested the name. At this time the uumber of settlers was very small and there is no way of discovering the actual population. The number in 1800 has long been accepted as 359, but there are good reasons for believing this an underestimate, and it is probable that there were nearly a thousand inhabitants of Louisville, and the immediate vicinity, in iSoo. This slight nucleus, that existed in 17S9, of the great city that was to be built on the spot, comprised men of quick intelligence and foresight. When the town was founded there is reason to believe that the enormous value of a canal around the Falls had been suggested. Certain it is that a map of the town, drawn in 1793, presented the projected canal virtually as it was built thirty-seven years later. It is interesting to know that one of the first agitators of the canal project was General James Wilkinson, who settled in Lexington in 1784, at the age of twenty-six, after having made a fine record in the Revolution. His restless, enterprising, and adventurous spirit, sustained by a manner and 3 FIRST SETTLEMENT AT LOUISVILLE. address that were captivating before they were spoiled by dissipation and the turmoil of misconduct, was of great value to the young State. He was a leader in the agitation that — whatever the mistakes of the agitators, and whatever the unjust suspicions that were attached to them under the pressure of excitement attendant upon the discovery of what is usually called the "Spanish Conspiracy" — led to finally securing the Mississippi river as a commercial highway to the United States, and the opening of which built up the great pioueer commerce of the Western States. Up to the break- ing out of the War of the Rebellion, and, indeed, for several years afterward, the internal commerce carried upon the Mississippi and the Ohio rivers was the greatest that any country in the world ever developed. General Wilkinson frequently visited I^ouisville, and the canal project was one that seems to have occupied his mind to a considerable extent. He gave it up with other commercial projects when he returned to the army and was made Commander-in- Chief, but returned to it temporarily, it seems, in 1S05-6, when he invited Aaron Burr, then outlawed for the killing of Alexander Ham- ilton, to go into the project with him. Bun- came to Louisville, examined the ground, and consulted with an engineer. He used that project afterward, or at least Wilkinson accused him of having done so. as a cloak for the greater and more hazardous enter- prise of conquering an empire for himself in Mexico. If a history of the genius of the people of Louisville were written, it would be found to comprise three periods, filled with in- tense energy. The first would be the pioneer period, occupied with the conquest of ter- ritorj' and the courageous scheme of devel- oping a river commerce by establishing trade with the Spanish provinces, and by the building of the canal, through which passing commerce should pay toll to the enterprise of Louisville. This developed into realization in 1S30. The second period would follow the building of the canal, when the settling of the Western and Southern States provided a great population to be supplied by the activity of Louisville merchants. In this period Louisville was purely a commercial city, handling the manufactures of the East and the great agricultural products of Kentucky developed by slave labor. The city grew rapidly in wealth and importance, but it could not grow in an independent and courageous common population because the blot of slave-labor kept white mechanics of the best classes away. It was in this period that Louisville established her social and political power, and became the resort of the most cultivated classes of the South who were attracted by the temperate climate and healthfulness of the place. It was a period of great social brill- iance, full of that charm of romantic interest which is so attractive to the student, and it came to an end with the Civil War. The third and most important period would comprise that of the organic change after the war, when the building of railroads, the abolition of slavery, and the development of agriculture iu the new North-west temporarily endangered the future of the city. Then it was that the heritage of courage, intelligence, and independence received from the pioneers of the first period asserted itself, for, notwithstanding Kentucky had beeu left with a great helpless population upon her hands by the emancipation of slaves, and there was danger that the slave-owners would prove quite as helpless without slave-labor, the people quickly grappled with the problem, and a few years of close application solved it. While Kentucky maintains her great agricultural importance her metropolis has developed into a rich manufacturing city. It is with the results of this third period that this book is to deal. It is this period which has made the wonderful organic change of a people within twenty years, and has added to a purely commercial city wonderful manufacturing enterprises, and has, without any sort of jar, brought in a great mechanical population which is not alone one of the most thrifty and contented in the country, but which has the satisfaction of seeing great wealth evenly distributed instead of being locked in the chests of a few millionaires. There are no millionaires in Louisville, at least, practically none. There is no other city of its size in the United States where there are so many handsome and comfortable residences, but there are none here that have been built for the mere display of vast wealth. The first thing that strikes the eye of the visitor accustomed to observation is the absence of the soul-crushing tenement house, while the multiplied numbers of comfortable cottages, with yards and gardens that are occupied by the working people, astonish him. A very large pro- portion are owned by those who occupy them, and there is, indeed, no reason why every industrious mechanic who comes to Louisville should not own a home of his own. Land, offering little choice between a site for a palace or for a cottage, can be purchased more cheaply than iu any other city of similar size in the country : building materials are cheap, and living is at the lowest cost. The street-car system, which is the wonder of all who see it, renders distance a nullity. For five cents oue can ride all over the city, and the system of free transfers makes it possible for the house- holder to live in any section of the city he may choose. Louisville occupies a position, calculated by all the favors of nature, to make her the metropolis of that richest region in America, the Mississippi valley, and the rapidity of growth which she has enjoyed for the past ten years indi- cates that the conditions are being prepared to realize that possibility. Taking the city as a center and projecting an imaginary circle upon the map of the West with a radius of 350 miles, the rim of the circle will pass near and include Jefferson City, Missouri; Burlington, Iowa; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Cleveland, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Penns5'lvania; Danville, Virginia ; Charlotte, North Carolina ; Atlanta, Georgia ; Birmingham, Alabama ; and Memphis, Tennessee. The area thus included contains a large percentage of fertile soil available for agriculture, with more favorable climatic 4 conditions than any other area of like dimensions on the known globe. A circle of the same radius, with Chicago for a center, must include many thousand square miles of Lake surface and much land unavailable for agricultural purposes. Advantages of central location in a given area may be, in a measure, counterbalanced by railways, and Chicago has been made a great city because railway lines were forced to pass through that city to flank Lake Michigan. But at the rate at which the railway system of Louisville has been increasing during the past seven years she will soon possess everj- artificial advantage of that character, besides possessing communication with thirty-two navigable rivers and having the richest and most varied territory in America to furnish supplies and create demand. The perfecting of the railway sys- tem of the whole country will balance constructive advantages leaving those of nature to preponderate in favor of the cities possessing them. Professor John R. Procter, for many years Director of the Geological Survey, and who has devoted years to attract- ing the attention of capitalists to the incalculable value of the iron ores in the field of which the Cranberry mines of North Carolina are the cen- ter, and to the almost limit- less deposits of cokiug coal in south-eastern Kentucky, commenting upon the area described about Louisville, says : " It already contains a larger population than any other circle of like area in the United States, and it is destined to contain the bulk of the population of the greatest empire that has yet existed in the world. The influence of physical feat- ures in population is well shown by the charts aud tables prepared by the last United States census. These charts show temperature, rainfall, etc.; and in connec- tion with the tables the fol- lowing facts : That the great- est absolute gain in popula- tion during the last decade was made in the region hav- ing a mean annual tempera- ture of from 50° to 55°, and that the circle described above is nearly all of this mean annual temperature. That over 12,000,000 people reside upon the area where the annual rainfall is from forty-five inches to fifty inch- es, or a larger population than on any of the divisions made according to rainfall, and that the above is the rainfall of the circle under consideration. The same favorable indications are shown on the charts of ele- vation above sea, minimum and maximum temperature, etc. Thus soil, climate, and all physical conditions point to a future dense population in the region of which Louis- ville is the center. The cen- ter of population of the United States has been moving westward each decade along the degree of latitude a little north of Louisville. The census of 18S0 brought it nearer Louisville, and the great movement of population southward will keep it on the lat- itude of and near Louisville for many years. In 1880, almost one-half of the population of the United States resided in the region drained by the Mississippi river and its tributaries. And in 1S90 probably more than one-half of the I,OUISVII,I,E BOARD OF TR.\DE BUILDING. population will reside in that region, and the proportion must increase yearly. So that a larger part of the population can be reached from Louisville by cheap transportation. "These significant facts insure the merchant and manufacturer of Louisville ample markets for whatever they may have for sale. The South has hitherto been Louisville's best market, and the great industrial development of that region must greatly benefit the city. Louisville has it in her power to become the distributing point for manufactures, mainly of wood and iron, for a large area of the North and West. The irou used in the West must come maiuly from south of the Ohio river. In bringing the pig-iron to Louisville, where it may be made into hardware, agricultural imple- ments, etc., it is bringing it in the direction of the market. In manufacturing such articles a higher class and better- paid labor is employed than in the mere making of the pig-iron. And such a population will bring a more substantial prosperity. Alreadv Louisville has cheap coal and iron, and in a few years roads now projected will add greatly to the facilities of obtaining these indispensable articles, and there will be in the city great industries based upon them. Louis- ville should not only become a great lumber distributing point, but a great manufacturing point for all articles requiring wood for their construction. Already the car shops, agricultural implement makers and builders in the States north of the Ohio river are looking southward for a supply of lumber, and this demand must yearly increase." Professor Sargent, Special E.xpert on Forests for the Tenth Census, says in his report on "Forests of the United States:" "The extinction of the forests of the Lake region may be expected to affect the growth of population in the cen- tral portion of the continent. * * * * New centers of distribution must soon supplant Chicago as a lumber )narket, and new transportation routes take the place of those built to move the pine grown upon the shores of the great lakes. ♦ * * * -ji-jje piue that once covered New England and New York has already disappeared. Pennsylvania is nearly stripped of her pine, which once appeared inexhaustible. The great North-western pineries are not yet exhausted, aud with newly-introduced methods, logs, once supposed inaccessible, are now profitably brought to the mills, and they may be expected to increase the volume of their annual product for a few years longer, in response to the growing demands of the great agricultural population fast covering the treeless mid-continental plateau. The area of pine forest, how'ever, remaining iu the great pine-producing States of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota is dan- gerously small in proportion to the country's consumption of white-pine lumber, aud the entire exhaustion oj these forests in a comparatively short time is certain." Professor Sargent then refers to the long-leaf pine belt of the South Atlantic and Gulf States, of which he says : " The timber is unequaleii for all purposes of construction," and adds with reference to the hardwood forests : "The most important of these forests covers the region occupied by the Southern Alleghany Mountain system, embracing South-western Virginia, West Virginia, Western North Carolina and South Carolina, Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. Here oak unequaled in quality abounds. Walnut is still not rare, although not found in any very large continuous bodies; and cherry, yellow poplar, and other woods of commercial importance are common." In this connection the extension of the Cumberland Valley branch of the Louisville & Nashville railwa}- to Pine- ville and beyond, and the extension of other projected lines into Eastern Kentucky, will have a most important bearing. In a communication to the Courier fournal , some years since, was ventured the assertion that the extension of a railway through Eastern Kentucky and into South-west Virginia and Western North Carolina would do more to build up the industries of Louisville, than any one thousand miles of railway into the cotton States. Subsequent investigations con- firm this belief The abundance and excellence of the coals and timbers, the superiority of the coking coals, and the nearness of abundant ore deposits and vast stores of ore suited to the production of Bessemer steel, and the varied resources of that region are such that a phenomenal development must result. Keutuckv is the only State having within her borders parts of the two great coal fields. Louisville is situated midway between these, and she can so connect herself with the industries and commerce of this State as to have an enduring prosperity assured. The Kentucky river, with navigation secured to the coal, should be to Louisville what the Monougahela is to Pittsburgh aud the cities below. In the valley of Green river aie immense deposits of irou ores asso- ciated with coal and convenient to railway and river transportation. These ores are regularly stratified, ranging from two feet to five feet in thickness, and can be mined cheaply. These ores are thicker and equal in quality to those of the Hocking Valley, Ohio, where the ores form the basis of extensive iron industries. In the counties of Western Ken- tucky bordering on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers are large deposits of rich Limonite or " Brown" iron ores, similar to the ones on which the prosperity of Decatur and Sheffield are predicated. Furnaces iu these counties will have the local ores, and the advantage of having in addition the Tennessee and Alabama ores brought down stream in the direction of the markets, and furnaces iu that region will be as near the coals of Western Kentucky as are the fur- naces in the above named towns to the coals of Alabama and Tennessee. They will also be convenient to the Missouri ores carried up the river to the furnaces of the upper Ohio. While the coals of Western Kentucky may not produce a coke equal in quality to the cokes of South-eastern Kentucky, it is certain that a coke fully equal to those of Alabama and Tennessee can be made from them. With the completion of the Ohio Valley railway south-westward from Union county, there will be two railways connecting the coals with the Cumberland river ores, and the coal measure ores of the Green and Tradewater valleys. These conditions offer an abundant unlimited opportunity for the development of Louis\-ille into the greatest manu- facturing and distributing center of the Mississippi Valley. As a residence citj' for all classes Louisville enjoys many remarkable advantages, not the least of which is the taste which has been characteristic, from the first, in the beautif^-ing and building of homes. The business quarter has always been plain — though the buildings have been equal to all the demands of an active commerce — while all who could build homes have made them as handsome as their means permitted. The great plain upon which the city was built, covering seventy square miles, and extending back six miles from the river to a group of picturesque " knobs " or hills, has afforded every facility for the economical gratification of taste. Ground being plentiful and level, distance was not difficult to overcome, and so, instead of being crowded into restricted limits set up by natural barriers, the city 6 BROADWAY, LOOKING EAST FROM THIRD. ■"■^ has Spread at her own pleasure. The streets are broad, being from sixty to one hundred and twenty feet in width, all well drained, paved, and beautified with a profusion of fine shade trees. There are few cities in the world with such finely shaded streets as Louisville possesses, and none where the streets are wider. The residences are, as a rule, provided with spacious yards and gardens, and in the spring of the year a drive over the city past the miles of great yards, filled with flowers and shrubbery, and under the shade of trees, rich with foliage and blossoms, is like a trip in fairyland. The average number of residences to the hundred feet in Eastern cities is about five ; in Louisville it is about tv.o. The favorite residence quarter, for many years, was south from Broadway, which divides the city parallel with the river. South Fourth, Third, Second, First, and Brook streets are lined with lovely and costly houses in which the taste of the archi- tect and the landscape gardener vie with each other for expression. Magnolia avenue, Kentucky, Oak, and St. Cather- ine streets, which intersect the others at right angles, running parallel with Broadway, are within this charming district and present the same lovely spectacle. South of Broadway, and practically within the district outlined above, there were 260 residences built in 1SS5 at a cost of Ji, 600,000, or an average cost of ^ |6,i5o each. The pride of home, united with good taste and a constant study of the most "^ effective architecture, has thus produced in Louisville a city of remarkably attractive homes. The effect of fflll the change of domestic condition of the people is nowhere more distinctly shown than by comparing the residences ^ a built since the war with those of ante-bellum times. One absolute necessitv of slavery was an intense conser\-a | tism. The incomes of a people being dependent upon a class whose condition long experience demonstrated must be unchangeable and unprogressive in order to be safe, all change and innovation were discouraged. This habit ex- tended insensibly in many directions. Under this social aspect, therefore, the architecture of old Louisville was mo- notonous and plain. The chief beauty of the houses of the old regime was merely suggestive. They were spacious and suggested great halls and airiness, but they were plain and angular in exterior. In strik- ing contrast with these are the picturesque modern structures of Swiss and Queen Anne style that now render every street at- tractive and striking. But the handsome residences are not alone confined to Broadway and the quar- ter south. They have extended east, and have beautified "The Highlands," made of Clifton a charming suburb, and are already building in large numbers in the West End and the residence suburb of Parkland. Of the many hundreds of fine residences no one, however, could be selected as be- ing of extraordinary cost. No other city of similar size in the world has half as many miles of street railway track as Louisville. To this must be added the steam suburban railway lines that connect the suburbs of New Albany and Jeffersouville, Ind., by way of the Louisville Bridge and the new Kentucky and Indiaua Steel Cantilever Bridge. These steam lines also 7 DAISY ELEVATED RAILWAY ST.\TION. encircle the city and pass ilown the river front upon an elevated track some three miles in length. There are about one hundred and tvveuty-five miles of street car and suburban lines, running over the one hundred and forty-four miles of streets of the city. It will thus be seen that there is scarcely' a block of ground in the twelve and a half square miles of territory' covered by Louisville that is not readily accessible by car. All fares within the city are limited to five cents, and this includes transfer to and from all parts, so that it is possible to ride from six to ten miles in the city for a nickel. The suburban lines, which pierce the country to a distance of from three to four miles, and which reach every one of the residence additions, have a uniform fare often cents. Such an abundance of inter-city transportation has prevented the concentration of population within narrow limits, and thus prevented real estate from attaining excessively high values, like those that prevail in cities where no facilities exist. The systetn in Louisville has been fostered by the policy of imposing as few restrictions as possible upon the extension of lines and has had the effect of making ground for residence and manufacturing purposes cheaper than in anj' other city of equal size in the LTnited States. The street car lines are all well equipped, accustomed to handling immense crowds without inconvenience or delay, make rapid time, and are justly celebrated for the comfort and service they render to patrons in return for the small fare demanded. Some showing of the mileage and business of the various lines in the city will be of interest ; ROADS. MILES OF TRACK. PASSENGERS CARRIED ANNUALLY. 64.0 30,0 5-8 lO.O 6.0 lO.O 11,897,000 7,000,000 560,000 t975.ooo Louisville and New Albany Daisy Line Louisville, N. Albany, and Jeffersonville transfer, Daisy Belt Line (buildiug) Belt Line (to be constructed) Total 125.8 20,432,000 f Estimated. The trans-river steam lines run trains every half hour between Louisville, New .'Vlbany, and Jeffersonville, at a uni- form fare of ten cents. The large populations of these two Indiana cities are, for all practical purposes, part of the population of Louisville. The population of Louisville in 1S87 was estimated by several methods of computation to be about 200,000. The exact figures of the estimate are 195,910. The census of 1880 discovered only 123,758, which was probably under the actual number, although the rapid growth of manufactures and the large increase in railroad facilities since 1880, readily account for the enormous growth of population. The city directory, compiled by Mr. C. K. Caron, one of the most careful and conscientious statisticians in Kentucky, gives an interesting summary of the increase of names in that publication. The number of names in the directory in iSSo was 49,550 ; 1S81, 52,401 ; 1882, 54,362 ; 1883, 56,845 ; 1884, 59,810 ; 1885, 62,110; 1886,64,408; 1887,66,900. Estimates of population in cities where directories are published unite upon computing one producer to three per- sons, which would give three as the multiplier; this would make Louisville's population for 18S7, according to the direc- tory, 200,700. Since the abolition of slavery, the increase of working population has been rapid and great. The growth of the city since 1780 is given in the following table : Population, 1780 30 1790 200 iSoo 359 1810 1,357 " 1820 4,012 " 1827 7,063 " 1830 10,341 1835 17,967 Population, 1840 21,210 1S45 37,2iS 1850 43.194 i860 .... 68,033 1870 100,753 1880 123,758 1883 151,113 1887 195,910 ' Thus it appears that the increase from 1880 to 1887 has been 56 per cent., which will compare favorably with the growth of Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and the other Northern cities, which, under artificial stimulus, have, duritig the past ten years, enjoyed advantages not possessed by Southern cities. The rapid development of great manufactur- ing enterprises in Louisville, the possession of the cheapest and most abundant coal supplies in the world, the cheap- ness and proximity of great timber and iron supplies render it probable that the increase of population until 1890 will exceed the present rate, and that the census will demonstrate remarkable facts about the greatest of Southern cities. The healthfulness of Louisville is remarkable, there being few cities in the Ignited States which rank so high in that particular so important to persons seeking homes. The city is absolutely free from the epidemics characteristic of the far South, and the climate being equable and temperate it is free from the objections that beset both extremes of country. The cause of the healthfulness is to be found in abundance of pure water, broad streets, and pure air, perfect sewer drainage, and excellent sanitary regulations. These taken together enable her to occupy the lowest place in the table of mortality rates last published by the United States government in 1885 : ANNUAL DEATH-RATE PER I,O0O INHABITANTS. New Orleans 28.5 St. Louis 25.2 New York 24.9 Richmond, Va 24.5 Chattanooga 23.8 Detroit 23.3 Cincinnati 23.3 Philadelphia 23.3 Newark, N.J 23.1 Brooklyn 22.9 Boston 21.9 Milwaukee 21.9 Hartford 21.7 Lowell 20.6 Chicago 19.2 Pittsburgh 18.7 Indianapolis 18. i' Nashville (white) ... . 14.6 Nashville (colored) 58.8 Louisville 17.4 In iSS6 the number of deaths was 2,Soo; in 1887 (year ending August 31), 2,862, an increase of but 62 in spite of the unexampled drouth y summer, during which the temperature was higher than ever before known in the history of the cit}-. Health Officer Gait, in analyzing the report for 18S7, furnishes the number of deaths by months as follows : August, 1886 , September, " . October, " . November, " December, " . January, 1SS7 . February " 216 March, 278 April, 211 May, z.sg June, 232 July, 200 244 1 IS87 .167 '77 ■ 321 303 254 Total 2,862 "In 18S6 there were one hundred and seventeen deaths from typhoid fever, eighty-five from cholera infantum, fifty-one from diphtheria, and nine from scarlet fever. Last year, notwithstanding the long and fearfulh- hot spell so dangerous alike to old people, infants, and invalids, we had but one hundred and twenty-one from typhoid fever, one hundred and four from cholera infantum, one hundred and nine from diphtheria, and but two from scarlet fever. Scarlet fever is a common disease among children, and is often prevalent. No city in the United States of half the size- of Loui.sville can turn to the records and show less than two deaths in a year from scarlet fever." The annual death-rate of Louisville for 1S86 was 16., and in 1887 it is about 14.53. The water supply of the city is obtained from the Ohio river at a point six miles above the wharf, the reservoirs being located on Crescent Hill, a beautiful property situated three miles from the city. The Water Company, the stock of which is possessed almost entirely by the city, own several hundred acres of land adjoining, which will no doubt be converted into a park in a few years. The improve- ments at the reservoir are of the most costly description, and the distribution of water is, in some instances, continued outside the city limits. The growth of the water supply and its distribution since 1S80, with the attachments, are given as follows : DATE. Jannarj', I, 1880 Laid in 1880 ■' iSSi " 1882 " 1S83 " 1884 " 188s " 1886 Total to January i, 1887 MILES OF VIVE. 108.84 2.447 4-505 2.512 2.087 3-447 3-307 3-235 130.380 NUMBER OF ATTACHMENTS. 7.012 .223 .441 -346 -437 -531 -438 •535 9-963 The increase in the supply of water furnished since 1880 will also show the great growth in population necessary to use it. There is no more complete and admirable system of water-works in the United States than that in Louisville, which has a capacity of 10,000,000 gallons daily, and two subsiding reservoirs with a capacity of 125,000,000 gallons. The enormous consumption and supply in gallons since iSSo is as follows : 1880 2,304,039,675 18S1 2,931,438,825 1882 2,616,882,450 1883 2,936,801,700 1S84 3,251,143,875 1S85 3,540,907,125 The water-works, being almost entirely owned by the city, furnish all water used by the city free of cost. This includes fire-cisterns, fire-hydrants, citj- hall, court-house, engine-houses, station-houses, hospitals, public fountains, etc. The cost of the water thus furnished free is about ;j25,ooo per year B 9 The number of miles of paved streets, and the nature of the paving, in iSSo, and the increase since, is shown as follows by the City Engineer : 1880 . 1881 . 1882 . 1883. 1884 . 1885. 1 886 . 13-55 13-55 13-55 13-55 14.10 14.91 15-65 106.03 105-93 107.96 109.90 107.00 IOS.20 108.80 7.64 7.92 7-47 7-47 6.10 6.10 6.10 ■45 -45 5.2S 6.40 6.90 ASPHALT. .20 .20 .20 .20 3.62 3.62 3-82 2.76 2.76 2.76 2.76 2.76 2.76 2.76 BLOCK STONE. .10 .10 .10 .10 .10 .10 .10 130.18 130.26 132-49 174-03 138-99 142.21 144-15 AHEYS. 1880 .. 25.71 1884 28.90 1881 25.71 1885 30.47 1882 26.77 18S6 31.06 1883 27.50 Number of miles of sewers in 1SS6, 47; number of fire-cisterns in i885, 4,314; number of public pumps in 1S86, 1,118. The police force of 18S6 consisted of: Regular force, 150 men; supernumeraries, twelve men ; on patrol-wagons, six men. Cost of maintaining Department of Police in 1886, |i 17,610. For a great many jears the losses bj' fire in Louisville have been under the average of other cities. In 1S86, when the value of the buildings of Louisville w-as assessed at 126,967,965, the loss by fire was 1366,808, or a little more than one-tenth of one percent. The cost of the department in that year was $126,130. The fire department has always been liberally supported, and its celebrity among other cities for extraordinary efficiency is due to the general distribution of storage cisterns of water all over the city. These cisterns are filled from the water-mains and hold from 300 to 2,000 barrels each. All the engines needed at a fire can be massed at one or two cisterns within a few yards of the conflagra- tion, and only a short line of hose is necessary. This unusually safe and effective system has not been introduced any- where but in Louisville. The department has always been exceptionally well managed for effectiveness, and there is a strong public pride in its standard. The number of fire engines in commission, thirteen ; number of hook and ladder companies, two. Following is a comparative statement of the losses and insurance and insurance premiums for seven years : INSURANCE VREMIUM. 1880 #475.379 646,343 IbSl 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 661,683 695.445 712,300 712,209 751.687 FIKE LOSS. $191,668 63 173,826 00 145,271 82 119,662 65 151,34809 193, .886 02 366,808 12 INSURANCE LOSS, 1114,32363 144,769 00 110,931 83 I 12,642 00 132.389 56 146,706 07 213.45836 INSURANCE. $664,627 87 520,475 00 873,276 76 I,S0I,002 19 This table shows that the gross average annual loss by fire in Louisville is a little over one-twentieth of one per cent, of the value of the buildings, while the net loss over insurance is so trifling as not worthy to be computed. The total value of propertv assessed for taxation in 18S7 is $66,890,000. a very small amount, because capital, stock, and a great many other sources of productive wealth taxed elsewhere are relieved here in order to permit of its increase and to encourage investment. The tax levy for 1887 was $2.04 on the $100, and for 188S will be $2.09. The report of the Sinking Fund Commissioners shows the bonded debt of the city January i, 1S87, to have been $9,352,000, and has not been increased since. There was at the same date cash on hand $513,988.63, and an investment in bonds of $1,343,000 ; which, taken together, will reduce the bonded debt to $7,495,000. After the year 1888 the levy for the Sinking Fund will not exceed fifty-five cents. The average current expenses are $iS,ooo per year, and the income for 18S7 in round numbers was $800,000. The census of 1880 shows that the debt per capita of Louisville is very noticeably less than that of most cities of its class and above. The debt has been created to build railroads, sewers, granite streets, and other public improvements that will be monuments of the city's greatness for a century. The payment of the debts has been guaranteed by a Sinking Fund, which has been managed with such conspicuous fidelity and ability, as to the main object of its existence, as to insure the payment of the debt as it matures, and the consequent steady reduction of the present low rate of tax- ation. A comparative table of del^t per capita of cities is as follows : Boston $77 84 Brooklyn 67 13 Chicago 25 43 Cincinnati 86 20 Cleveland 40 38 Jersey City 127 45 New Orleans 82 08 New York feo 71 Newark 66 44 Philadelphia 64 01 Pittsburgh 9° 38 St. Louis 65 18 Washington 127 66 Louisville 39 19 It will be seen that Chicago is the only city in the list whose debt per capita is smaller than that of Louisville, but the tax rate of Chicago is much higher than in Louisville. The educational facilities are of the most extensive and complete character. The public school system was of small efficiency before the war, and the present schools have been built up since 1865. This accounts for their practical and advanced nature, the organizers of the system being weighted by no established prejudices. The excellences of systems 10 longer established in other cities were combined with as few of the weaknesses as possible. Louisville w-as one of the first cities to provide for a practical business course of traiuin^ for the boys and girls of the public schools whose aims and circumstances did not require or ask a classical finish. The High Schools now admit of a business course in which book-keeping and busi- ness usages are taught. The Female High School has, in 18S7, introduced the teaching of stenog- raphy and type-writing, and girls who must rely upon their own ex- ertions for support w-ill have an opportunity, free of cost, to prepare them- selves for those positions which so many of the sex have been taking during the past ten years. There are thirty-three public schools in Louis- ville, classified as follows: One Male High School, cue Female High School, twenty-seven white ward schools, and six colored schools. There vv'ere 404 teachers employed in 1886, and the total cost of the schools was fci3,57i or I18.53 for each pupil. The number of children of school age in the city in iS85 was 65,ooo as com- pared with only 48,837 in 18S0, and the average daily attendance in iS85- 7 was 16,796 as compared fe;m.\i,e high school. with 13,498 in 1880. The liberality with which the schools have been maintained has re- sulted in supplying the city with many very large and costly buildings. The Female High School, on First street, is a very handsome edifice, con- taining all modern con- veniences and comforts. During the winter months night schools are kept in every ward, open to those who are not able to attend during the day. For these schools the pu- pil age is extended and through them many grown persons have at- tained the rudiments of education and have achieved success in life. The colored night schools, in particular, have afforded opportunities to many colored people who would not otherwise have had the advantages of common knowledge. In addition to the public schools there are numerous flourishing private schools and seminaries in which pupils are prepared for colleges. Each Catholic parish has its parochial school. The following table will show the remarkable growth of the public school system since 1865 : AVERAGE YEAR NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER AVERAGE TOTAL COST OF ENROLLED. REMAINING. BELONGING. ATTENDANCE TEACHERS. SCHOOL. 1864-65 9.388 5.S9O 6,073 5.209 141. 1103,425 05 |i7 02 1865-66 9.719 6,310 6,47s 5.629 141. 109,539 98 16 90 1866-67 12,271 7.7" 7.9IS 6,071 177.0 142,149 81 17 95 1867-68 14.054 8,639 9,016 8,04s 1930 148,329 26 16 45 1868-69 13,596 8,8,83 9.530 8.550 220.0 177,379 45 18 61 1869-70 13.593 9,089 9.705 8,720 237-6 188,883 81 19 46 1870-71 14.574 9,397 10,174 9,180 264.9 213,445 41 20 98 1871-72 14,229 9,457 10,270 9,227 287.0 242,201 06 23 58 1872-73 15.334 10,355 10,729 9.346 28S.6 247,354 89 23 05 1873-74 17.557 11,346 12,325 10,944 300.4 253,168 48 20 54 1874-75 17,593 11,755 12,807 11.551 315-5 255.529 02 19 95 1875-76 I7.53S 12,250 13.301 11,951 328.3 272,278 98 20 47 1876-77 18,486 12,861 13,732 12,293 335-9 275,137 43 20 03 1877-78 19,292 13.374 14,234 12,999 319-5 277,046 43 19 46 1878-79 19,484 13.960 14,782 13,405 327-6 218,769 39 14 79 1879-80 19,990 13.761 15,051 13,498 320.8 197,699 10 13 13 1880-81 19,189 13.734 14,802 13,270 326.5 218,693 56 14 77 1881-82 20,186 14,108 15,390 14,760 358.2 245,852 24 15 97 1882-83 20,131' 14,240 15,389 13,902 370-9 267,114 33 17 35 1883-84 20,507 14,836 15.717 14,085 376- 1 285,447 49 18 16 1884-85 20,061 15,215 16,295 14,664 383-2 284,015 34 17 42 1885-S6 20,964 15,795 16,926 15,271 404.1 313.571 56 18 53 For many years the medical schools of Louisville have been recognized as among the finest iu the world and the fame of their graduates has been international. There are four great medical colleges, attended annually by thousands of students, the University of Louisville, the Louisville Medical College, Hospital College of Medicine, and the Kentucky School of Medicine. The Louisville College of Dentistry, the Louisville School of Pharmacy for Women, and the Louisville College of Pharmacy are widely recognized institutions, affording opportunities for education in particular departments of surgical and medical science. Other educational institutions are the Kentucky Institutions for the White and Colored Blind, among the noblest and most interesting establishments in the country. Attached to these is the government priutiug establishment for the blind. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, which was removed to Louisville in 1877, has flowered iuto a great school, with hundreds of students. In 18S7 work has progressed far upon the new semiuary building which will cost about $300,000. The dormitories have been constructed and are in use temporarily as instruction halls, the students meanwhile occupying the fine Standiford Hotel property as dormitories. There is also a Colored Theological Seminary kuowu as the State University, conducted by a faculty of competent teachers. The Law Department of the University of Louisville is recognized as a successful school. The Polytechnic School and Library is one of the largest and most invaluable educational establishments, aud its methods and objects are so numerous and unique that the organization stands without a parallel among institutions of learning in the South. It maintains a library of more than 40,000 volumes, which number is constantly increasing Ijy purchase and donation. The library is open, absolutely free to the public, thirteen hours every day except Sunday. The library room is 135 feet long and seventy-five in width. It is light, cheerful, beautifully furnished, thoroughly warmed and ventilated, and, beiug situated on the ground floor, is easy of access. Members of the society are privileged to take books to their homes, and other reputable persons can se- cure annual membership b y the payment of small fees. A course of free sci- entific lectures is provided annual- ly, and these have attained wide celebrity, re- ports of the lect- ures having been secured for publi- cation in many periodicals in this country and abroad. There is also an extensive Another View of Broadway. laboratory in which practical demonstration s of scientific sub- jects are made. The Troost and Lawrence Smith cabinets of min- erals, and the Oc- tavia A. Shreve memorial cabi- net, containing mineral and oth- er specimens of great value and beauty are in the keeping of the societ}-. Attached is a free art gal- lery of painting and sculpture by American artists. including specimens by Joel Hart and Cauova's " Hebe." Besides these means of instructions, which are absolutely free, the society provides for the organization of clubs, or academies, among its members for the cultivation of any branch of science, art, or useful knowledge which may especially interest any five or more members. Provision is also made for close instructiou in various branches of knowledge at a cost barely sufficient to insure regular attendance. The success of the Polytechnic Society since its formation has been phenomenal. During the last seven years it has largely improved its buildiug, purchased several thousand volumes of books, maintained the several departments above enumerated, and paid off f5o,ooo of its bonded debt. Its present bonded debt is but |4o,ooo. It has no floating debt. The church buildings of the city are 142 in number, and there are 135 organized parishes and congregations, distril> uted as follows: Baptist, 9; Christian, 7; Congregational, 2; Protestant Episcopal, 12; German Evangelical, 4; Ger- man Evangelical Reformed, 4 ; Jewish, 3 ; Lutheran, 4 ; Methodist Episcopal South, 11 ; Methodist Episcopal North, 6 ; Northern Presbyterian, 9 ; Southern Presbyterian, 7 ; Associate Reformed Presbyterian, 2 ; Unitarian, i ; Spiritual, 2 ; Catholic, 18 ; Faith Cure, i ; Gospel Missions, 3. Colored churches : Baptist, 15 ; Christian, i ; Protestant Episcopal, 2 ; Methodist Episcopal North, 13. Louisville is the seat of the Protestant Episcopal and the Roman Catholic dioceses. The Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption is one of the finest edifices in the West. The church buildings are unusually costly aud beautiful, and in this respect Louisville is justh- celebrated. The religious establishments com- prise seven convents and monasteries, a Young Men's Christian Association, supplied with libraries, readin,g-rooms. and gymnasium, and two branches, one for German-speaking people, the other for railroad employes. In public and religious charities Louisville surpasses any city in the country, in proportion to population. There are thirty-eight of these institutions, among which the unfortunate or the erring, from the cradle to the grave, of all religious sects, and all social conditions, may find refuge. The public Alms-house cost $210,000, aud persons who are uuable to labor, or are helpless from age, are received there. The city also supports a public hospital, founded in 1817, and which is one of the largest and finest buildings in Louisville. St. John's Eruptive Hospital is also under control of the Committee of Public Charities. The religious charities and hospitals are upon a very large and generous scale. The Church Home aud Infirmary in the Highlands, above the city, is under the care of the Episcopal churches, and provides a home for aged and^helpless and working women, and an infirmary for the sick of either sex. It was founded through the gift of f 100,000 from John P. Morton. The John N. Norton Memorial Infirmary, for the nursing of the sick, is situated in the residence district on Third street, aud is also under Episcopal management. These charities occupy magnificent buildings. Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital, for the nursing of sufferers by railwa\- accideut, St. Joseph's Infirmarj', for nursing desperate cases and strangers, and the Home for the aged poor are three great charitable establishments under the care of the Catholic church. These aud the United States Marine Hospital and a number of private establishments, beside four free public dispensaries, provide for the convenieut care of all public sufferers. 12 The city sustains three industrial schools of reform for juvenile delinquents. One is for white boys, another for friendless girls, and the third for colored youth. The buildings are large and costly, and the grounds ornamental. These industrial schools are celebrated among philanthropists and those interested in prison reform. The greatest and most unique charity in the city is the Masonic Widows' and Orphans' Home, the object of which is to "provide and sustain a home for destitute widows and orphans of deceased Free Masons of the State of Kentucky, and an infirmary for the afHicted and sick Free Masons and others who may be placed under its charge. " This is the single charity of that character in the United States, and it is celebrated all over the world among Masons. The build- ing is the largest in the city, and is maintained by the free contributions of Masonic lodges and the public. It is not too much to say that it is an institution in which the whole State takes pride, and to which contributions are made from all quarters of the country. Louisville has eleven orphanages, two homes for friendless women, a home for old ladies, and a central organized charity association. The facts enumerated describe to the thoughtful reader a population of the highest and most prosperous type. Edu- cation being free and supplemented with all the advantages that an ambition for learning can demand, it follows that the people are intelligent, active, and enterprising. A people are better represented by their newspaper press than by any other public expression. In this respect Louisville surpasses many much larger cities. There are four daily papers, two morning and two evening, that rank in ability, enterprise, and success with any in the country. The oldest and most celebrated is the Courier-Journal, edited by Henry Watterson. The Commercial, also a morning paper, and the Post and the Times, evening, are publications of exceptional standard. Besides these, there are numerous weekly and special papers and periodicals. The city has six theaters, five of which are constantly maintained, and are equal in beauty and reputation to the best in the country-. Business is organized through the Board of Trade which has about 700 members and occupies one of the handsomest buildings in the city. The Commercial Club, composed of the younger business and professional men, has a member- £34 i/^^ iiWiiui'i'ir - ^ ^-J ^ f MfMf] 11' ". -•H ■! II It iL. , .,--^__ ^^^ fc.'l>B .. I . u 111 I i^mmm ship of about 500, and has done much since its organization to promote the growth and encourage the development of Louisville. It was organized for that purpose, and its services can always be commanded to assist proper enterprises and to forward pulilic movements. The club is now making arrangements to erect a great building for its quarters which will be one of the most costly and conspicuous structures in Louisville. The officers of The Board of Trade in 1S87 are : President, Harry Weissinger ; Vice-Presidents : First, William Corn- wall, Jr. ; Second, Thomas H. Sherley ; Third, George Gaulbert ; Fourth, Andrew Cowan ; Fifth, Charles T. Ballard ; Treasurer, George H. Moore; Superintendent, James F. Buckner, Jr.; Secretary of Transportation, A. V. Lafayette. The officers of the Commercial Club are : President, George .\. Rol)inson ; Vice-Presidents : First, Peyton N. Clarke ; Second, John H. SutclifFe ; Treasurer, Julius W. Beilstein ; Secretary, Angus R. Allmond, There are a number of social clubs in Louisville of great wealth and influence. Principal among these, and possess- ing their own establishments, are The Peudennis, with 300 members ; The Standard, with no ; The Pelham, with 115 ; The Brownson, with 140; and The Progress, with 100. There are few clubs in the South so splendidly established as The Peudennis and The Standard. I,OUISVII,IvE'S RESOURCES. A consideration of Louisville as a point for commercial and manufacturing enterprises must be prefaced by a state- ment of the advantages, natural and artificial, which she possesses. These are comprised in the extent and cheapness of transportation for raw material and manufactured products, in the extent and nearness of material, the proximity of markets of consumption, and the various incidental features of labor, supplies, and real estate. There is no city in the world more abundantly supplied with transportation facilities. Steamers leaving the wharf at Louisville can ply on thirty-two navigable rivers, having an aggregate length of 25,000 miles. Kentucky alone has over 1,600 miles of navigable streams — more than any State in the Union— and they flow in sections rich in timber, coal, and iron. Steamers already penetrate to these, and the improvements contemplated by the Federal Government 13 will add to the navigable distance while vastly increasing the productiveness of river commerce. The railway system of Louisville is composed of sixteen roads, entering from all directions, four of which have been organized and con- structed, or are being constructed, within the past three years. Within five years the railroad facilities have been nearly doubled, with the result of increasing traffic, greatly reducing the rates of transportation, and contributing to the rapid and phenomenal development of the city. During 1S87 work was actively prosecuted upon railway lines, local and general, radiating from Louisville to the following extent : ROADS. Louisville Southern Louisville, St. Louis & Texas Louisville, Cincinnati & Dayton Daisy Belt Railroad New Albany and Eastern connections .... New Jeffersonville Railway Bridge (organized) Street Railway Extensions 80 139 147 12 COST. P, 200,000 2,500,000 3,750,000 400,000 160,000 1,500,000 60,000 Total 378 f 10,570,000 This table will show the activity that prevails in railroad building, and the work has been prosecuted with such vigor that all the enterprises will be opened by the summer of iSSS. These roads will uncover new territories filled with coal, iron, and stone ; sections immensely rich in agricultural lands that have only been waiting for transportation facil- ities to greatly increase their development. The completion of the new line of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad to Pineville, at the entrance of the famous Cumberland Valley, opens to development 10,000 scjuare miles of timber and coal and great quantities of iron ore. This is the most important railroad that has been constructed in the United States for ten years and is the first to enter the wonderful region so often described by geologists and so long neglected by cap- italists. Besides these roads, others are projected and several are nearly prepared to commence operations, but those named are practically finished. During the present year more miles of railroad were under construction in Kentucky than in any other State in the Union, save one. There were ten new lines building with mileage as follows : Covington, Maysville & Big Sandy . . 140 miles Clarksville & Princeton 53 Bardstown & Springfield -17 " Chesapeake & Nashville 35 " Versailles, Georgetown & Paris ... 15 " Louisville Southern 6S " Louisville, St. Louis & Texas . . . .150 miles Ohio Valley 95^ " Cumberland Valley 45 " Elizabethtown & Hodgenville .... 12 " Total 630^4' " In this table is not included the Louisville, Cincinnati & Dayton, which, although it will greatly contriljute to the growth of Louisville, is located through Indiana and Ohio. With the rapid building of railroads in Kentucky, nothing is surer than the rapid growlh of Louisville. As the metropolis of the State all railroads seek Louisville as a center of operations. Already the Louisville & Nashville, own- ing and controlling nearly 500 miles, and having a large share in the management of 1,500 miles more, has its headquar- ters here, as has also the Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis. The great Huntington system, with its two roads, the Chesapeake & Ohio and the Chesapeake, Ohio & South-western, running east to the Atlantic, and, by associated lines, west to the Pacific, has a general passenger office here, and property interests in the Short Route, Union depot, etc., equal to its property interests anywhere in the country. The Pennsylvania Company has a fine passenger depot, the general freight office, and the Superintendent's office, as well as extensive freight yards. The Louisville, New Albany & Chicago has important terminals at New Albany, while the Queen & Crescent and the Ohio & Mississippi have both freight and passenger offices, and the Ohio & Mississippi has a depot and important terminals at Fourteenth and Main. These roads, connecting Louisville closely wdth the great rail systems of the continent, and selling tickets to New Brunswick, British Columbia, and Mexico, are bound, gradually, to establish more important offices here, and many of them to acquire and improve more property. Indeed, the Pennsylvania Company is now on the point of building extensive freight houses and terminals near Main, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth, at a cost of |i8o,ooo. Mr. Huntington has given evidence of his faith in Louisville and his readiness to put his money here by the construction of the new Union depot and the prompt building, for the Daisy line, of several smaller depots. The Louisville Southern will certainly make Louisville its headquarters, and locate here its shops, freight houses, etc. A plan has already been considered for building for it in Portland, convenient to the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge, a freight depot with yards that will give room for all business as it may grow for the next fifty years. The Louisville, St. Louis & Texas and the Louisville, Cincinnati & Da\-ton, with proper treatment, will also place their terminals here. These, with further growth of the old roads in the next ten years, are good for an increase of population aggregating 30,000 people, and an added property value of |io,ooo,ooo. The rivers and railroads furnish Louisville quick and ready access to all the raw materials used in American manu- factures, and to immense fields of fuel. The Western Kentucky coal field, comprising an area of 4,000 square miles, lies about seventy miles south-west of the city and is penetrated by Green river, which is navigable during slack water throughout its limits. It is also penetrated by several railroad lines. The topography of the country being favorable to the construction of railroads, others are building, and when Green river is made free of tolls the development of the coal will be greatly accelerated. At present, many great mines are operated and Cannel coal is shipped to England. The Eastern coal field, which has just been reached by the Pineville branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, covers 10,000 square miles, or one-fourth of the area of the whole State. The coking coal deposits— among the finest yet discov- ered in the world — are estimated to cover about 2,000 square miles, an area between thirty and forty times as great as that of the Counellsville district in Pennsylvania. The existence of such enormous coal deposits on all sides of Louis- 14 \-ille has had the effect of making coal for fuel cheaper in this city than anywhere else in the country. Coal miners recognize it as the lowest market, and the paradoxical spectacle is often presented of Pittsburgh coal being brought to Louisville and sold for less than it brings at Pittsljurfh. The cost of coal has declined so greatly through the development of the unlimited supplies in Kentucky that the cost of steam power in Louisville is less than the cost of water power in New Eugland. A patient inquiry into the rentals and cost of water power in eleven New England manufacturing towns disclosed the fact that, while the average cost per horse power per year of twenty-four hours per day for 300 days was J46, the most liberal estimates made as to the cost of steam power in Louisville show it to be less than $30. Contracts are made here for annual supplies of coal at from f 1.25 to |i.6o per ton, the cost being regulated, of course, by the amount and the usual market influences. It is easily capable of demonstration, however, Ijy the books of any of the large manufacturing establishments, that the cost of fuel in Louisville is greatly less, and that the fluctuations are less marked than in any of the large cities. Coexistent with these coal fields are forests of the finest timber known to the market. The virgin forest of Eastern Kentucky covers 10,000 square miles, and the Southern and Western forests are equally valuable and extensive. A very KENTUCKY successful and intelligent manufacturer of Louisville, himself using enormous supplies of lumber, says, writing on the subject of the timber resources of the State, with special reference to the advantages of Louisville as a market : " My special study of the timber has been largely confined to the supplies of white oak, hickory, and poplar, suitable for wagon manufacture, along the line of railroads and improved water courses uaturall}- tributary to the Louisville market. This embraces but a small portion of the area and of the timber wealth of the State and that portion which has suffered most from clearings for farms and from cutting to supply manufacturers in this and other .States. Nor does it embrace those portions of the State most heavily timbered originally. And yet, even in these sections, especially a few miles off the lines of such roads and streams, there is an abundant supply of these and other woods to meet the demands of factories now in operation, and of those that are likely to be built, for j'ears to come. Drawing from these sources and from Southern Indiana and Northern Tennessee, Louisville is now the best and cheapest hardwood lumber market in this country, if not in the world. And yet the trade is but in its infancy, having had an existence for only six or seven years. Of the superior quality of this timber I can speak with confidence, having tested it thoroughly in comparison with the products of half a dozen States North and South of Kentucky. For strength, toughness, and durability' the hard woods from the Southern half of Indiana, Kentuckj-, and the Northern counties of Tennessee surpass any found elsewhere, and give to Louisville, as a place for the manufacture of all articles into which wood and iron enter, superior ad- vantages, while its central position, railroads in operation and in process of construction, and water facilities assure the lowest rates of freight. Already the factories of the North and North-west, having measurably exhausted the timber in their vicinities, are drawing a considerable portion of their supplies from this section, and many of them will ultimately be compelled to move nearer to the source of these supplies. The reason of the superiority of the timber over the same kinds north or south of this region is probably owing to the more favorable division of the growing and resting and indurating seasons resulting from its climate. Farther South the period of growth is so rapid and protracted that it does 15 not sufBciently harden, hence, is too porous and brittle. Farther north it is too short and the wood is too hard and ine- lastic. But the section referred to, as previously stated, furnishes but a small per cent, of the timber of the State. Except as cleared for farming and thinned out along the navigable streams and the railroads and in the vicinity of a few iron furnaces, the timber of the State is practically untouched by the ax and has never been wasted by forest fires. In large sections of Western, Southern, and Eastern Kentucky are found verdant forests of hundreds of thousands of acres heavily timbered with the finest and largest growths of white oak, chestnut oak, hickory, poplar, pine, chestnut, and other kinds of trees, indigenous to a temper- ate zone. All over the State, but greath' scattered, e.xcept in places remote from lines of transportation, is found black and white walnut of the largest size and finest quality, and in some portions of Eastern Kentuckv, in large forests. On the ridges, hills, and mountains of Eastern and South-eastern Kentucky, along the tributaries of the Big Sandy, Licking, Kentucky, and Cumberland rivers the laud is too steep to be ever profitably cultivated; and if the timber is judiciously and systematically cut, it will renew itself throughout the ages. Calculations based on actual experience show that a furnace making some 3,000 tons of char- coal iron annually, located on a tract of 10,000 acres, will have a perpetual sup- ply of suitable fuel. A tract of 100,000 acres, if cut regularly and systematiL-ally as is done in the timber districts of Canada, would continually renew itself aud never become exhausted. It is a peculiaritv of the timber of this State that in large sections the second growth is superior in the kinds of timber to the forest. The railroads projected aud under construction, and the improvements of the water wa^-s will bring into the market, within a few 3-ears, the timber from im- mense tracts of land heretofore valueless." Louisville is also the nearest practicable market for the great deposits of iron ore and coking coal in South-eastern Kentucky now about to be opened by various railroad lines, and the improvement of the Kentucky river, as explained in the article in this book by the Hon. J. Stoddard Johnston. In addition, she is the natural gateway to the cele- brated Bluegrass region, the finest agricultural territory, perhaps, in the United States. vShe is thus always amply sup- plied with food articles. The beef and mutton from this section are celebrated everywhere. The border lands of the Bluegra,ss are hill counties, admirably adapted to the production of fine fruits in great abundance. The country surround- ing Louisville is excellent for farming and garden purposes. Jefferson county, of which Louisville is the seat, is one of the largest potato producing counties, if not actually the largest, in the United States. The receipts of potatoes at this point in 18S6 were 121,637 barrels, and the shipments 225,814, showing that the county raised 104,177 barrels. This is an increase of 95,000 Ijarrels since iSSo. The prices of produce are nearly always lower in the markets of Louisville than in any other Western and Southern city, and the laboring population can be better fed here than anywhere in the South. On Four//! Street. COMMERCE AND M.\XUF.\CTURES. Having thus shown Louisville's situation with respect to transportation and proximity to raw materials of all sorts, and that the city is situated in the midst of an agricultural region capable of supporting many millions of people, it re- mains to see what the actual facts are with regard to her industries and commerce, and to point out the opportunities for profitable investment, and the terms uuder which manufactories can be established. It is incomparably the greatest tobacco market in the world, not only in the bulk of its handlings, but in their variety. Situated midway in the great tobacco producing territory, stretching from the Mississippi river across Kentucky, Ten- nessee, and Virginia, every grade of the product seeks its market. One-third of all the tobacco raised in North America was handled in the warehouses of Louisville in 1S85 and 1SS6. In the latter year there were 103,475 hogsheads, or 125,000,000 pounds, of raw tobacco received on the market, valued at 5' 1.625,000 according to the Treasury Department's average of the value per pound to producers. The actual value of the tobacco handled here was nearly f 20,- 000,000. The great importance of the Louisville tobacco market is in its universal character, being the only city in the United States where all grades can be obtained. Cincinnati, St. Louis, Paducah, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee, are respect- able markets, but only for certain classes or grades. At Louisville, all grades, from the finest of white Burley to the commonest " Regie " for European governmental contracts, can be obtained. There are resident representatives of consumers in every part of the world. Agencies of the enormously rich and historic firms of Liverpool, London, Bremen, and Antwerp, of the governmental monopolies of France, Spain, and Italy, and of the great manufacturing houses of America are maintained in Louisville because all demands can be supplied here alone. There are several features which tend to maintain the supremacy of Louisville as a tobacco market already established by her geographical position. First is the enterprise of her warehousemen, who have a vast capital invested, and who have developed and extended their operations with a judgment and coolness that is bound to command success. Louisville has fifteen warehouses, and through the building of the new Falls City, Enterprise, and Central warehouses, aud storage houses erected and being erected mainly for the purpose of storing tobacco, the handling capacity of the Louisville market may be safely called fifty per cent, greater than two years ago. Cincinnati, the only city that has made an exhaustive effort to rival Louisville, has hut six warehouses, aud has long ago dropped out of sight as a competitor. The Cincinnati market deals only with Burley leaf. 16 On Fourth Street. Most of the tobacco chewed in the world is what is called "navy " plug, having received its name from being at first dealt out by the governments of Europe to their seamen. This tobacco, saturated with sugar and licorice, is by vast odds the favorite solitary consolation of men who do hard labor and engage in rough service the world over. It is chewed by soldiers in all armies, seamen in all navies and under every flag and clime ; the laborer on the streets, the public roads, and the railroads, the man with the skilled trade, and the person whose position in life makes him ashamed of the vice— the incalculable majority find solace in the use of the dark and sweet plug, and millions of jaws keep time to the same weakness. For many years the manufacture of the navy plug has been one of the great interests of Louis- ville, and the bulk of the Western tobacco goes into that product. Consequently, Louisville is the most important point for supply for the greatest of the chewing tobacco demand. Here is a table showing the warehouse movement of tobacco in hogsheads in Louisville for the past eleven years. In that time the market has enlarged nearly 500 per cent., sometimes by bold leaps, but usually by sure progression : YEAR. 18S6 1885 18S4 1883 1882 1881 1S80 1S79 1878 1877 1876 1S75 RECEIPTS. 103,112 108,821 71.154 71,866 53.075 54.460 52,609 48,870 69,916 50.532 54.883 24,200 DELIVERIES. 92,238 96,566 68,756 73,020 53.645 57,220 5S.35S 49.037 61,072 50,462 53.610 25,031 OFFERINGS. 125,573 127,946 81,980 88,900 61,440 67,400 65,281 58,035 71,028 56,218 61,352 27,700 STOCK END OF MONTH. 15.515 9.5SO 5,701 3,294 5,912 4,888 7.639 13,355 13.361 6,018 5,806 5,810 During 18S7 there has developed a tendency to hold tobacco in storage at this point instead of shipping to New York and abroad to aw^ait demand. This tendency promises to develop the market more and to increase the advantages of Louisville as a point for manufacturing tobacco. There are at present fifteen warehouses, thirteen re-handling establishments, sixteen manufactories of chewing and smoking tobaccos, seventy -nine cigar manufactories, and thirty-four brokers engaged in the trade, apart from agents and others who can not be classified conveniently. They employ millions of capital and more than 5,000 work- men. The production of and trade in fine Bourbon whiskies, one of the greatest industries of Kentucky, engages a large amount of capital in Louisville. The collection district, of which Louisville is the center, contains one hundred registered grain distilleries, one- half the number in the State. The producing capacity of these houses is nearly 80,000 gallons per day. The gross product during the five years ending June 30, 1S87, was over 35,000,000 gallons, upon which internal revenue taxes to the amount of ^^29, 154,319 were paid at the collector's office. About $3,000,000 of taxes were remitted by the exportation of over 3,000,000 gallons in that time. There are required to barrel the product of the Louisville district about 165,000 casks, and the capital invested in the distilleries is estimated at $i,- 000,000. The Bourbon whiskies made here are cele- brated as the purest in the world and are universally used for medicinal purposes as well as for beverages. Other manufacturing and commercial interests, in which Louisville is the largest market in the United States, are as follows : In the manufacture of Kentucky jeans and jeans clothing there are four large mills engaged, employ- ing about $1,250,000 capital, 1,250 hands, and produc- ing annually nearly 7,500,000 yards of cloth, valued at about 12,250,000. In 1887, the capacity of this iudus- try has been increased about twent}- per cent. The trade of the world is supplied with this article, and it is known everywhere. This industry has increased eight-fold in ten years. The manufacture of cast gas and water pipe is carried on by the largest establishment in the United States, that of Dennis Long & Co., which has recently enlarged its capacity fifty per cent. There are about 400 hands employed, with a capacity of 250 tons of iron daily, and the output has long since closed similar establishments at Pittsburgh and commands the trade from one ocean to the other. There are twenty-nine foundries making stoves, architectural and other commercial iron products, employing about 4,000 hands and cousumiug about 150,000 tons of iron annually. As c 17 » J" mim UNITED .ST.\TES CUSTOM HOU.SK — FOURTH STREET. an iron consumer, Louisville ranks about fifth among the cities of the country. In addition to this, it has recently become a great storage market, not ranking first, but having immense supplies stored that enter into the demand of the country, thus requiring regular quotations. There is a prospect that, as the making of pig iron gets to be a larger and more com- maudiug industry in the South, the importance of the Louisville market will increase, and, being nearer the furnaces and the natural center of distribution, the manufactures of iron ought to grow largely. One of the most commanding industries of the city and in which it surpasses any other in the world, perhaps, is the manufacture of plows. There are four establishments, making a product valued at $2,275,000 and employing 1,925 work- men. One of these is the largest in the world and sends its plows to every country where modern agricultural methods are pursued. It received the first medal for plows especially designed for farming in Hindostan, and is introducing American plows in Mexico and .Australia. The number of plows made in Louisville in iSSo was 80,000. In 1886 it had increased to 190,000, and the capacity of the largest establishment has been materially enlarged in 18S7. The value of all agricultural implements manufactured in Louisville in 1S80 was |i, 220, 700. In seven years the value of plows alone has nearly doubled this. Hydraulic cement is made largely, the product of the mills operating upon the cement stone in the bed of the Ohio river and adjoining, reaching nearly a mill- ion barrels annually. The sales in 18S6 were 850,000 barrels. The reputation of fine oak- tanned sole and harness leather made in the Loui.sville tanneries is world wide. The extraordinary finish of the work attracted the at- tention, some years ago, of the tanners of kid leather in France and they sent a commission to Louisville to examine into the secret. There are twenty-two tan- neries located about the falls, six- teen of which are in Louisville. The value of the annual product is J2, 500,000, and nearly 800 hands are employed. In the sale of mules it is the largest market, the sales aggregat- ing about 12,500 annually. In all the manufactures into which wood and iron enter, Louisville is being recognized as one of the most promising points in the country. Recently one of the largest veneering mills in the United States removed its entire plant from New York City to Louisville, where it has erected large buildings and is using forty acres of land and about 500 work- men. A wagon manufacturing company was offered large capital and free grants of land, exempt from taxation, to remove to several of the "boom" cities West and South. The company invested $40,000 in a new site in Louisville instead and will soon have the largest establishment of its kind in the country. The furniture manufactories employ 1,200 workmen and make annually a product valued at 1,775,000. The reputation of the furniture is high. In connection with the account of the trades and industries in which the citv has been growing, it is proper to men- tion various important manufactures which are insufficiently supplied, or in which Louisville and the State are almost altogether lacking, and which could be created or extended. These involve the production of a number of articles for which there is a large, steady, and increasing demand, not only in Louisville, but in the immediate and great territory which Louisville can supply. Such articles have so far been imported, wholly or in part, from Europe or from points in the East, North-east, and Middle States of this country. They may be classified and discussed as follows : Articles of Food for Consumption. — Manufactures of olives and various sweet oils, sugar and syrup refineries, cheese factories, preserving estafflishments are needed. A cotton-seed oil refinery has been started and is growing. It is also making cotton-seed-oil soap. In vinegar, pickles, sauces, mustard factories there is a growing number of establish- ments, large and small, and a marked increase of production and distribution. WOODENWARE. — Buckets, wash-tubs, and wash-boards, which, for many years, have come almost exclusively from Pennsylvania and Ohio ; brooms and the building of ships from timber on the Ohio ; all these are needed and would be welcome. There is still room for various agricultural implements to expand the great center which the making of plows, etc., have created of Louisville in the implement trade. Metals. — Crucible steel, cast, and metal works ; rolling mills for bar iron, pig iron, and railroad iron and steel ; maimfacturing of nails, axes, horseshoes, iron castings, hardware, cutlery, type are needed. A great rolling mill, many years successfully established in the interior of the State, removed to Louisville last season, and is now successfully making boiler plate, bar iron, and other rolling mill products of the best grades, with orders ahead of capacity. A chain works has resumed (had been abandoned). A new factory, making plumbers' castings and fittings, has just started. Nail mills, cutlery, horseshoe, and various heavy and small hardware and iron factories are still lacking, MINERALOGICAL AND CHEMICAL ARTICLES.— Various glasswares— window glass, flint glass, pressed glass, tableware ; crockery ware potteries ; starch, of which hundreds of thousands of boxes are brought here annually from the East ; 18 Residences on Chestnut Street. chemicals, dye, and paint stuffs. All these are needed. Two factories are making liottles on a liberal scale. One fair- sized and several small potteries are making jugs and crocker}-. DePauw's works are making plate, window, and bottle glass at New Albany. But there is room for window and pressed glassware potteries. Textile F.\brics. — Cotton mills for spinning and weaving; manufacturing of the common, medium, finer, and cost- lier articles of cotton, sheeting and prints, calicoes, ginghams ; of woolen, flaxen (linen), silken, and mixed stuffs, wraps for woolen goods, cotton yarns, cottonades, twine, carpet chain, osuaburgs, brown sheetings, tickings, denims, and other descriptions of heavy, plain, coarse cotton goods, and later following finer work. Though a considerable part of the cotton passing Louisville, mostly for New York and Liverpool, was .sold here, no bale was worked into fabrics, no spindle whirls, no thread is spun, and no yard is woven. Further : With an annual production of 25,000,000 pounds of wool in the West and South, there are in Louisville but four factories for woolen goods, combined with cotton. We need several more for blankets, flannel, cassimeres, broadcloths, knit goods, pilot cloth, petershams, hosiery, carpets, oil cloth, waxed cloth, tapestries, etc., clothing, hats. There is no carpet manufactory in the whole West. Most, or all, of these goods are brought here, as yet, from Eastern places and Europe. Small Wares. — All that class of so-called " loft manufactories," so numerous in the East, and employiug so much skilled and unskilled labor. Louisville originates great quantities of heavy freights, but not nearly as much in .small wares as could be profitably turned out. Huudreds of the sundry items distributed by the many grocery, hardware, and VIEW IN CAVE HILL- other jobbers here are bought elsewhere and ought to be made here. Cabinet and saddlery hardware, trimmings, wood and metal, are used and distributed here to large amounts, and very little of it made here. LE.^THerw.\re. — Various leather manufactories are needed, such as belting (which is made on a small scale), all kinds of patent leather, gloves, and fancy articles. Boots and shoes for the trade are manufactured, and could be made in larger quantities. One of the factories, at least, is making a fine article, and Louisville ladies' fine shoes are finding a growing market. There is no reason whatever why most or all of the leatherware for the home market should not be manufactured here. With reference to capital invested in tanneries, and value of product, Louisville takes high rank amoug the places of the United States, and the first rank among the places west of the Allegheny mountains. Straw Manufactures. — Hats and other articles ; none here. Paper. — Brown wrapper of all descriptions might be made here, but is not; some kinds of writing and book paper are made ; no strawboard is manufactured here, though a great deal of it is consumed. Paper twine and papier-mache works do not exist here. Bricks. — The manufacture of patent or pressed and fancy brick and tile ought to be, and is being, developed more largely. We are consumers, and have the clay and most other ingredients right here. Power. — Louisville is still without a steam power hall for the rent or lease of power and rooms to mechanics, artisans, and artists with limited means, for the manufacture of articles on a small scale, establishments which have proved very successful and profitable for owners and tenants in the Eastern States. A power and laud company which would provide power and space would attract and develop a class of industries which we lack, and accommodate others we have, and originate many. BANKS AND BANKING. The banking capital of Louisville has thus far been sufficient to carry on the business of the city. There are twenty- two banks established, representing a capital of I9, 201, 800 with an aggregate surplus of 12,565,279. They are all pros- 19 perous and in a healthy condition, managed by enterprising and public-spirited citizens. The capital and deposits of the twenty-one banks represented in the Clearing-house Association July i, 1SS7, were as follows : BANKS. Bank of Kentucky Bank of Louisville Bank of Commerce Merchants' National Bank . . First National Bank Kentucky National Bank . . . Falls City Bank Second National Bank . . . . Louisville City National Bank Citizens' National Bank . . , Farmers' & Drovers' Bank . People's Bank German Insurance Bank . . Masonic Savings Bank . . . , German National Bank . . . Western Bank Third National Bank .... German Security Bank . . . , German Bank Louisville Banking Company . Fourth National Bank . . . . Totals CAPITAL. DEPOSIT. 11,645,100 1 792.451 S6 655,000 299.715 24 800,000 1,036,03657 500,000 1,203,10463 500,000 834.719 21 500,000 2,291,83702 400,000 1,261,504 51 300,000 589,846 01 400,000 586,615 77 500,000 I -158. 933 36 301,700 621,499 21 150,000 261,341 85 249,500 1,489,032 21 250,000 1,076,895 19 251,500 672,000 00 250,000 735.732 13 300,000 528,379 49 179,000 739.214 79 188,400 1.503,326 04 300,000 1,607,32952 300,000 637,624 09 $8,920,200 119,927,13870 From the annual clearings of the association is also to be obtained the best idea of the increase of business. The association was established in 1876 and the clearings for that year were |; 107, 000, 000. For the past five years they were as follows : 1882, $193,000,000 ; 1883, $214,000,000 ; 1884, $211,000,000 ; 1885, $217,000,000 ; 18S6, $233,000,000. This shows a steady and very large increase of the volume of business, but it is greatly exceeded by the reports of 18S7, which have shown an average increase in round numbers of a million a week. The clearings for 1887 will, therefore, reach about $290,000,000. It can be better grasped when it is stated that the increase of business alone in Louisville for 1887 is equal to half the aggregate business of Detroit and that the aggregate business of Louisville for 1SS7 is three times as great as that of Detroit in 1886. During the eight months ending September 30th, there were nearly fift\- new manufacturing establishments planted in Louisville, while many already founded were greatly enlarged and improved. Some of the new enterprises are very important concerns, which have been removed thither from other cities, bringing all their plants and workmen. During the eight months referred to, about 1,400 new buildings were erected at a cost of about $4,000,000. REAL ESTATE. Real estate values in Louisville are influenced by conditions existing in but very few cities in this country and which produce results of incalculable value to the actual owner and user of property. The most important fact affecting real estate is the great available supply. The city is built at the uorthgrn extremity of a plain covering an area of seventy or eighty square miles. The corporate limits include about twelve and one-half square miles with 144 miles of paved streets. There are 124 miles of horse and steam street and suburban railwa3-s, a greater mileage in projiortion to the size of the city than can be found anywhere else in the country. The street railway lines have never been required to purchase their franchises, and the cost of extension being comparatively small, the lines have been carried out in many instances in advance of the growth ; this, with a fixed fare of five cents and a liberal system of transfers, has tended to build up the suburbs and relieve the pressure upon the center of the city. The noticeable results of these conditions have been to make desirable property cheaper for manufactories, residences, and business houses than in almost any city of approxi- mate population in the world. Below will be found the assessed values of real estate and of permanent improvements in 1880 aud for each year since, taken from the records for assessments : YEARS. VALUE OF LAND. 1880 1881 1882 1883 I8S4 1885 1 886 1S87 $27,149,665 28,475,355 28,999,269 29,342,601 28,993,856 30,581,719 30,690,026 31,550,000 VALCE OF IMPROVEMENTS, $23,045,000 23.112,553 23.767,015 24,225,840 24.253.734 26,399,141 26,967,965 28,500,000 TOTAL VALUE $50,194,665 51,587,908 52,766,274 53,568,441 53.247,590 56,980,860 57,657.991 60,050,000 An analysis of this table would show the very singular fact that while the increase of land values has been $4,400,335, and the (nominal) value of improvements erected has been $5,455,000, there has been practically little appreciation of the value of general property already improved, and this, notwithstanding the fact that the increase of population has been variously estimated at from 45,000 to 60,000 in that time. The only addition to values has been that added to vacant lots by the erection of improvements thereon. Improvements in Louisville are assessed at about fifty per cent, of their cost and realty at about two-thirds of its fair market value. The actual increase of improvements, therefore, has been about $10,000,000, while only about $4,500,000 have been added to the realty value. Few cities can make such a showing and iuvite population to homes so cheap, workshops so lightly taxed, or business houses at such fair rental. Nowhere for purposes of actual use are there more inviting opportunities for real estate investments as in Louisville. Belowf is a table of the comparative values of unimproved property in various cities, showing very strikingly the low prices that prevail in Louisville by contrast with other places. While high-priced real estate is valuable for speculators, it is a curse for the actual user, because it increases his taxes an,d his risks. Low-priced ground enables a population to base prosperity upon the surest of foundations : Cleveland . Detroit . . Milwaukee . Kansas City vSt. Paul . . Toledo . . . Chicago . . Omaha . . . Indianapolis Minneapolis Louisville . POPULA- TION IN 1880. 160,142 116,342 II5.57S 41,498 50.143 503,304 3o,5i« 75,074 46,887 123,645 BEST RETAIL CORNER LOTS. Depth Per feet, front ft. 165 100 150 132 150 106 100 132 202 200 180 $3,500 2,000 1,500 2,500 1,200 1,100 4,500 1,200 800 1,500 1,000 BEST RETAIL INSIDE LOTS. Depth Per feet, front ft. 175 100 120 132 150 106 175 132 200 160 180 l3,ooo 1,500 1,000 i.Soo 800 1,000 3,000 1,000 600 1,500 650 BEST RESIDENCE CORNER LOTS. Depth Per feet, front ft. 600 150 120 150 200 330 180 132 200 100 180 $500 350 200 175 300 125 700 150 175 300 225 MEDIUM RESI- DENCE INSIDE LOTS. Depth Per feet. front ft. 200 200 120 132 150 150 150 132 175 160 iSo $100 150 80 65 60 60 150 60 60 80 80 WORKINGMEN S RESIDENCE INSIDE LOTS. Depth Per feet, front ft. 125 126 120 132 120 120 120 132 125 225 I So f40 25 20 25 20 15 36 25 10 35 20 ACRE PROPERTY ADJOINING CITY LIMITS. Per acre. fi,5oo 3,000 5,000 5,000 1,000 7,000 5,000 400 1,000 INCREASE OF M.\NUFACTURES. The wonderful cheapness of real estate, the proximity of great supplies of raw materia! and fuel, and the wonderful increase of railroad facilities since iSSo have been the factors in a remarkable growth of industries in that time. The statistics of manufacturing expansion since 1870 are shown below and it will be noticed that the increase since iSSo has been little short of magical. The census reports furnish the following facts in regard to the natural growth of manufact- uring in Louisville : Value of products, 1S70 118,826,349 Value of products, 1880 35,908,338 Value of products, 1886 66,508,700 Increase, 1870 to 18S0 117,081,989 Increase, 1880 to 1S86 30,600,362 Greatest number hands employed, 1870 . . 10,315 Greatest number hands employed, 1880 . . 21,937 Greatest number hands employed, i885 . . 39,125 Increase, 1870 to 1880 11,622 Increase, 1S80 to 1886 17,188 While the population increased twenty-five per cent, from 1S70 to 18S0 the manufactures increased nearly one hun- dred per cent., and while population from 1880 to 1886 increased about forty per cent, manufactures increased about ninety per cent. This is evidence that more and more of the resident population is being utilized in manufacturing establishments, which means eventually a population of skilled and educated mechanics. TAXATION AND ASSESSMENTS. One striking advantage to manufactories located in Louisville is to be found in the provision made for low taxes on all properties dedicated to manufacturing purposes. The nominal tax-rate of the city is $2.04 on the $100 for the current year, but the rate on manufacturing property judiciously situated is far less. For instance, the lands situated south and west of the city are more es- workshops, elevators and railroads aflFording transpor- pecially adapted for industrial establishments, factories and founderies, mills and warehouses, on account of the high, dry, level, and cheap grounds, the proximitv of tation from and to all parts of the country, and of the good drainage b\- sewers, indispensable for the carrying on of various branches of industry. The lands partly lying within the corporation lines of the city are assessed for taxation at about two-thirds of their market value, and if laid out in lots and improved pay the full city tax, amounting for the fiscal year to $2.04 on the f 100 assessed value. Beside, they pay State tax amounting to fift3--one cents on the Jioo. County tax is not levied on property within the city limits. Part of such lands, not laid out and not improved, called "acre property" pay the city tax only for railroads and schools, I sixty cents on the f 100, beside the State tax of fifty-one cents in 1SS6. Other parts of the lands extending for miles in the western, southern, and eastern direction and some contiguous to railroads and sewers, as well as to the Ohio river, are situated outside of the corporation lines of the citj- and pay only State tax and county tax, which, in ENTRAXCI-. To CAVE HILL. 1886, amounted to seventy-one cents on the f 100 assessed value. They are in everj' respect more suitable for the es- tablishment and successful carrying on of factories and foundries and all branches of industry and trade. Further city taxes are : On assessable investments, less bona fide indebtedness, sixty cents on each |ioo for railroad and schools. 21 Other personalty and realty and improvements, I2.04 on the |ioo on an assessment of two-thirds value. Head tax, I2.00. Licenses, for carrying on various classes of business, professions, or crafts, rates fixed according to their character and volume. The amendments to the charter of the city of Louisville relating to assessments provide: Household goods, etc., of the value of J300, when owned and possessed by bona fide residents of Louisville who are housekeepers and the heads of families, shall not be subject to taxation by the city. United States bonds and city of Louisville bonds are exempt from city taxation. Under the charter of the city of Louisville, approved March 3, 1S70, and amendment of April 15, 1882, Section 2, stock of corporations engaged in, and created for, manufacturing and commercial purposes, and conducting business in said city, shall not be liable for taxation by said city. And under an act to amend the charter of the city of Louisville, approved April 8, 18S2, Section 2 provides that no tax shall be assessed on tools, implements, or material of manufacture in said city, nor any license be required of them for selling their own manufactures. In the same act to amend the charter of the citj- of Louisville, approved April 8, 1SS2, Section 2 provides that merchandise on which a license tax is charged and paid shall not be liable to be assessed under the provisions of this act. The act to revise and amend the tax laws of the cit}' of Louisville, approved April, 1SS4, does not materially alter the previous laws relating to the sources of revenue, the objects to be assessed for, and the values exempted from, taxation, and what changes there are have been considered in the above statement. These unusually low tax-rates provided for all manufacturing enterprises, united to the many natural advantages, ought to induce a large accretion of capital. Not only are the taxes at present reasonably low if rightly understood, but the charter and ordinances of the city provide also for various exemptions from taxes, more particularlj- on industrial establishments and their products. Historical and D^scriptivE. ► OUISVILLE lias been the center from which radiated much heroic history. As Vincennes, m Indiana, was the advanced post at which the French made their stand for the glory of French enterprise and arms, so Louisville was the headquarters of all the valor and the military operations that were finally to result in the conquest of the great North-west Territory by that dauntless young chieftain. General George Rogers Clark, and the extension of the domain of the United States from the Ohio river to the great lakes and the present northern limits. A profound prehistoiic interest attaches to the site of Louisville as the scene of the last great battle between the Indians and the people who preceded them. Nothing is known of the ori- gin, character, and fate of these prehistoric people except from the fables that were left, and which have been challenged or contradicted by the ornaments, utensils, and monuments occa- sionallv discovered. They were skilled in the use of copper, and the remains of mounds and fortifications show that they had considerable geometrical knowledge, and, perhaps, warlike ingenuity and courage. The first white settlers heard from the Indians a shadowy tradition to the effect that ages before there had dwelt in the Ohio Valley a numerous and powerful race with whom the Indians waged a war of extinction. The decisive, final battle, as said before, was fought at Louisville. The remnant of the defeated prehistoric race retreated for refuge to an island just below the falls where they were pursued and exterminated by the Indians. The location of the present island in front of Louisville, and the discovery of traces of a great burying-ground on the banks of the river opposite, have been pointed out as giving probability to the story. There are, however, topographical evidences that f ges ago the course of the Ohio river was back of the present site of Louisville, and the final retreat of the exterminated race — if there was any — was on the ground where Louisville now stands, %vhile the battle might have been fought on the great plain some six or eight miles south of the city, where several beautiful hills might have furnished strategic opportunities. ' The burying-place referred to as being partial evidence upon which the Indians based their tradition of the battle was found opposite Louisville a little below the ^nllage of Clarksville, Indiana. It was evidently the site of an Indian village, covered to the depth of six feet with alluvial earth. In 1819, when the discovery was made, large quantities of human bones in a very ad- vanced stage of decomposition were found interspersed among the hearths and scattered in the soil beyond them. The village must have been surprised by an enemy, and, after the battle which ensued, the bones of the combatants in large numbers were left upon the spot. It was argued that, had it been a common burial-place, something like regularity '^mik THE C.4.THEDR.\I, SPIRE. would have been shown in the disposition of the skel- ,etons, and that they would not have been found on the same level with the fire- places of an extensive set- tlement, but below it. A number of other in- teresting prehistoric re- mains have been discovered about Louisville. Mounds or tumuli were, at an early day, tolerably numerous. Many have been opened by the curious, and the earth hauled away. In most of these only human bones, but sometimes a few bones of the deer were found. Some contained but one skeleton, but from other mounds of similar size the i,#^s| rr' t" A il.-^':i'> ■■m T ' M (f I r ' _57v J — &t THE CITY H.\I,I,. remains of twenty or more were taken, making it very- probable that the former were designed for the mau- soleuins of chiefs or dis- tinguished persons, the lat- ter for those of the commu- nity. A few miles below the city, sixty years ago were discovered two stone hatch- ets, at a depth of forty feet, near an Indian hearth, on wliich, among other vesti- ges of a fire, were found two charred brands, evidently the extremities of a stick that had been consumed in the middle on this identical spot. The plain on which these hatchets were found is alluvial, and this fact gives rise to the question, where was the Ohio river when the owners of these hatchets were seated by this camp fire? It certainly could not have been in its present place for these remains were below its level. About 1808, in Shippingport, an iron hatchet was found under the center of an immense tree over six feet in diame- ter, whose roots extended thirty or forty feet in each direction. The tree was cut down and its roots removed to make 23 room for the foundation of Tarascon's great mill. The hatchet was e\'identl3- formed out of a flat bar of wrought iron heated to redness and bent double, leaving a round hole at the joint for the reception of a handle, the two ends being nicely welded together and hammered to a cutting edge. The tree was over 200 years old, and the hatchet could not have been placed under it in the particular position in which it was found. It must have been there before the tree was, and the latter grew up and its roots spread over it. The existence of the tradition of a pre-historic battle, and the importance of the position in the war for the con- quest of the North-west territory, show that Louisville has always been a spot of interest. It was to the military epi- sodes of the mound-builders and Indians, what Troy was to the Greeks and Trojans : The one place upon which all their greatest exploits centered. Upon the great plain where these fabled events occurred, the first comers to the falls of the Ohio saw the opportu- nity for building a citj- at the head of navigation. The Ohio river flows in a long and beautiful curve about the north- ern and western boundary of the county of Jefferson. The middle part of the county, comprising the plain, is rich, productive, and liighly cultivated. There are innumerable fine farms for the production of vegetables and fruit to sup- ply the city market. The city is seventy feet above low water mark, and twenty feet above the highest flood mark, with a front of ten miles. The plan of the city is regular and beautiful, the principal streets running parallel with the river. The streets are si.xt\ feet in width, except Main, Market and Jefferson, the principal busi ness thoroughfares, which are nine ty, and Broadway and South Third residence streets, which are one hundred and twenty. Broadwa\ when its destiny shall have be accomplished, will be the fii: street in the world. The head the street is at the entrance to CavL 1^^ Hill Cemetery, about two hundred T feet above the general level, and) thence by an easy slope it sweeps away seven miles, in an almost view and the sunsets from the " Knobs An Old-fashioned Residence. straight line, to the magnificent natural harbor west of the city. Across the Ohio from the harbor are the famous Indiana " Knobs," a range of hills about five hundred feet high, much sought by the ^\ealthy for summer residences. 1 pou (.lie tops and sides of this range of hills there is a flora en- tirely distinct from that of the sur- rounding country. The mountain laurel, azaleas, and rhododendrons grow in profusion and all the hardy nuts and wild strawberries. From the eminence the view is superb, extending over a radius of nearly fifty miles. So capable a critic as Bayard Taylor has pronounced the his travels. These hills are a contin- as among the finest he had met with in nation of Muldraugh's range, which crosses the Ohio below New Albany, and traverses Kentucky north and south to the center of tlie State. In the rear of Louisville are several remarkably' symmetrical and graceful hills, grouped on the plain, evidently stragglers from this range. They rest the eye in a magnificent perspective from Highland Park. On the east of the city is a range of sharp hills, dotted with suburban residences, called "The Highlands." From the summit of the New Albany hills the cities of the Falls may be seen spread out in birdseye map beneath. The first actual settlement at Louisville was made in 177S, upon an island in front of the landing, christened Corn Island. The last vestiges of this were swept away by the rapids some years ago. The first fort was built on the main- land in 1780, and in 1782 Fort Nelson was erected on what is now the north side of Main street, between Sixth and Seventh, opposite the Louisville Hotel. In 1844, while excavating on this spot for a cellar, the remains of timbers, forming the base of General Clark's block-house, were discovered. It was possible to trace the extent of the enclosure, which took in a fine spring on the bank of the river. From this rude beginning the present beautiful city has grown. There has never been a decade when its growth was not steady and rapid. So practical and pushing were the people that the place remorselesslj- sacrificed all historical land-marks and relics, few of which can he ]3oiuted out in the modern town. In the absence of relics of the first settlement of Louisville, it is interesting to note that the most minute historical memoranda of the pioneer period have been collected into a private library, which forms one of the most valuable and important monuments of patient and discriminating research in America. This is the library of Colonel Reuben T. Durrett, celebrated as a historical writer and collector of material concerning the political and social progress of Virginia and Kentucky. The collection represents forty-five years' labor of a gentleman of rare culture and education and of liberal mind. It contains prints, paintings, drawings, and maps of pioneer persons and places, of which, in many instances, no duplicates exist and no expenditure of means could replace their loss. Colonel Durrett's library can be nominally valued at a quarter of a million dollars ; it is always open to the student and the scholar, and is the source from which much modern history of Virginia, Kentucky-, and Indiana has been drawn. The collection contains, how- ever, much valuable material concerning the history of the United States, and an interesting and important point of pilgrimage to all intelligent visitors to the city. Another important private library is the theological collection of Dr. James P. Boyce, which is quite as celebrated among students of theology as Colonel Durrett's is among lovers of historv. Some of the oldest towns in Kentucky were established near Louisville. Two of these, that had made history for themselves, have been swallowed up in the growth of the metropolis, and were long ago incorporated w'ith the city. Shippingport, which was incorporated in 17S5 as Campbelltown, is situated on the island below the falls, and contains most of the historic remains of Louisville. The first owner of the site of Shippingport was Colonel John Campbell, who sold it in 1S03 to James Berthoud, a French emigre, one of quite a number of adventurous and enterprising Frenchmen who had settled about the falls, and who gave great impetus to business. Two others, who early became conspicuous and successful, were the Tarascons, who purchased the greater part of Shippingport in 1806. At the lower end of this island was the landing-place for boats, and, as the name would imply, the place became an important shipping point, 24 being the head of lower uavigation, as Louisville was the foot of upper navigation. The two towns were separated by a mile and a half of distance and an arm of the river, but, as up to 1831 (when the canal was opened), all the commerce around the falls in both directions was hauled from one town to the other, growth iu both towns followed the track of commerce, and the^- gravitated toward each other. Shippingport, under the enterprise of the thrifty French grew in importance, and at one time transacted a much larger amount of business thau did Louisville. The existence of great natural water-power marked it for the French as a place to be developed for manufactures. In 1S15 the Tarascons began the erection, at a cost of over f 150,000, of an enormous merchant flouring-mill — an enterprise so extensive that even in this day of great manufacturing establishments it would compare well. The building, of stone and brick, with massive foundations and six stories, reaching to a height of 102 feet, still stands a monument to the solidity of early industry. The mill had a capacity of 500 barrels of flour per day. Its machinery, which had been imported at great cost, was the most perfect that could then be designed. The building itself was of the most advanced architecture of the period, and was so constructed that wagons could be driven under an arch and weigh and discharge grain at the rate of seventy-five bushels in ten minutes. The machinery was driven by water-power, and the mill-race had room for much additional power. The Tarascons experimented with the most improved machinery with the purpose of erecting cotton, fulling, and weaving-mills, but their intentions were too far in advance of the times, and resulted in failure. The old mill stands, now converted into a cement manufactory, still driven by water-power and contributing its capacity to one of the greatest industries iu Louisville. It is a curious aud interesting relic of the old times, and is fittingly surrounded by the monuments of the old French quarter. As early as 1819 Dr. McMurtrie, writing of the place, describes it as showing taste in the construction of the houses, "many of which are neatly built and ornamented with galleries, in which are displayed of a Sunday all the beauty of the town. It is in fact the Bois de Boulogne of Louisville, being the resort of all classes on high da3's and holidays." Traces of all this remain in the weather-stained old houses with their balconies and antique doors and windows. The streets that were made three-quarters of a century ago are still as hard and level as at first. Ship- pingport is now but an election-precinct in one ward. It is the seat of a great cement industry, and the population is made up of laborers. One of its curiosities is the hotel once kept by Jim Porter, the Kentucky giant. Porter, who lived and died on the island, was remarkably small in early boyhood, so small, indeed, that he was employed as a jockey in the races that were run on the old track where Elm Tree Garden stood, a spot now given up to fields of waving corn at the upper end of the island. At fifteen he began to grow so rapidly that he began to measure himself everj- Saturday night. His ultimate height was seven feet nine inches, his -weight 300 pounds. His rifle, eight feet long, his walking- cane, four and one-half feet long and weighing seven pounds, and his sword, five feet in length, were preserved in the house for years but have now fallen into the custody of the Polytechnic society. Charles Dickens, on his trip to this D 25 Third Street. countr\-, made a special \asit to Porter, and spent several hours with the giant, of whom Prentice wrote on his death that "among his fellow-men he was a high-minded and honorable gentleman." The coffin containing the remains of Jim Porter is shown in the familj^ vault at Cave Hill Cemetery. The outer casket is nine feet in length and proportionately broad. The Louisville and Portland canal, which was opened in 1831, was the cause of the decay of Shippiugport. The falls of the Ohio which impede navigation are more ||j^ correctly described as " an obstruction in the course of the river caused by a ledge of (^ limestone rock running obliquely across its bed, with channels or chutes through the ' mass, produced or modified by the force of the water." The limestone rock which , \ forms the bed of the river in front of the city and is the underlying stratum upon ^' /which Shippiugport island is founded is used in immense quantities for the manu- ^facture of water-lime or cement of a (luality superior to any other made in America. It is an earthy stone of a slightly bluish-green ashen tint, with an earthy flat conchoidal fracture. Its characteristic constituents have been determined to be : Lime, 28. 29; magnesia, S.89 ; pure silica, 22.58; other insoluble silicates, 3.20; pot- ash, 0.32. The lime and silica are exactly in the proportion of their equivalents, to which is due the hydraulic properties of the cement rock. The rock is remark- able for the facility with which it cracks, splits, and disintegrates to calcareous mud when exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather. After it is properly burned and ground, however, the lime and silica unite in connection with the water to form a hydrated silicate of lime which acts as a powerful cement to agglutinate the grains of sand added in mixed mortar, which is usually three times the bulk of the hy- draulic lime added. This cement was exclusively used in the building of the canal, and time has demonstrated that the cement has grown harder than the stone used. The Louisville and Portland canal was the first great engineering work in the United States, and it is to-day full of interest. It was projected by the first settlers and was incorporated in 1825. Governor DeWitt Clinton, of New York, who as a Presidential quantity was advocating internal improvements in the way of canals, came to Louisville in 1826 to the t/round-breaking. Taking off his coat and rolling up his sleeves. Governor Clinton filled a wheelbarrow with earth and trundled it off to the dumping ground. This important work, by which the difficulties of navigation past the falls of the Ohio are avoided, was begun under the joint auspices of the United States government and the State of Kentucky. Bv the charter authorizing the undertaking, the government subscribed for |ioo,ooo dollars of stock out of a total of 1700,000 issued by the State. The canal was opened for business in the spring of 1S31, having been constructed at a cost of $742,869.94. It has a length of 2.1 miles, a width of eighty feet along rectilinears, and of eighty-six feet at all bends. There are six locks, having dimensions of 400 x 80 feet, large enough to clear eight feet each, although the entire fall is only twenty-six feet. At first the toll charged was eighty cents per ton, which was soon reduced to fifty cents. Produce boats, carrying salt and iron, were charged three cents per foot, and this was subsequently- made two cents per foot. The government, to complete the work after the State's funds had been exhausted, subscribed for $133,500 addi- tional stock, and afterward received 567 shares as a dividend. Between 1831 and 1842 the L'nited States received in dividends upon the business of the canal, $257,778, which returned to the government an aggregate, in cash and bonds, of $24,278 and 567 shares more than its original investment in the enterprise. The canal eventually proved too .small to accommodate all the craft on the Ohio, and the work of deepening and widening it was begun in i860 under the superintendence of Major Godfrey Weitzel, of the United States Engineer Corps. The improvement was continued through the war up to 1866, when it ceased for lack of appropriations. In 1868 Congress voted $300,000 for resuming the abandoned work, and followed it by $300,000 more in 1S69, and $300,000 in 1871, and gave $100,000 in 1873. Having thus expended such large sums, the next natural step was for the govern- ment to assume entire charge of the canal, which was accomplished in 1874 by the United States assuming the payment of outstanding bonds. From the date the transfer, all forms of toll charges were abolished, and to this fact the waning powers of river transportation owe what- ever vitalitv remains at the present time. Under government auspices and direction, the task of completing the enlarge- ment of the canal has not only been carried to completion, but a new project is now under way to successful accomplishment by which a secure and ample har- bor will be afforded against the perils of moving ice, in the colder seasons, of g those large fleets of coal tows that arrive from Pittsburgh with high stages of I water. All the property is under responsible supervision by officers of the gov- ernment, and the canal proper, with the improvements projected, will long remain as sightly memorials of a paternal government devoted to the interests of I interstate commerce. The mouth will be 375 feet wide and it will taper gradually like a funnel to the drawbridge at Eighteenth street, where the width of ninety feet is ' -^^ regular. The cost of the enlargement will be $1,500,000. At the mouth A Pretty " Queen Anne." of the canal is the great government wing dam, extending to the middle of the river. For half the year the top of the dam is out of water and affords a broad promenade which is utilized by fishermen and pleasure-seekers in large numbers. The force of the current over this dam and into the mouth of the canal is so great in good stages of water that a government life-saving station is maintained. Before this was established the men who commanded it saved many lives from philanthropy. 26 Below the falls there is, under the bank of the river at the village of Clarksville, on the Indiana side, a strong whirlpool, through which steamers must pass, though it is done without danger. A trip over the falls on the steamers is an experience always enjoyed, and there are few packets passing that do not take a quota of sight-seers. For many years the falls pilot has been Captain Pink Varble, whose name is known wherever there are adventurous travelers that have shot the falls of the Ohio. The course of improvement in transportation has already paralleled the canal with a railroad. This is called the "Short Route," and is built upon an elevated steel trestle twenty-one feet above the grade of the streets. It commences at P'irst street, and traverses the river front to Portland, affording direct railway connection across the cit}-, and serving as the roadway for suburban trains and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway system. The "Short Route" is an engineering marvel. Its \ower end connects with the Kentucky and Indiana steel cantilever bridge. This beautiful structure, which cost a million and a half dollars, was begun in 18S2 and completed in 18S6. It crosses the river below the falls, connecting Portland and New Albany. Its length is 2,453 feet exclusive of the approaches, which on the Kentucky side are very picturesque and extensive. There are nine piers, seven of which are of limestone masonry, and two are cone-shaped iron cylinders, made of boiler-iron five-eighths of an inch thick, resting upon the bed-rock, and fitted with brick and concrete. The average height of the oiers is 170 feet. The masonry of these piers is regarded by engineers as the most handsome and substantial ever placed in position for a bridge on the continent. The aggregate masonry contains 13,600 cubic yards of stone. The length of approaches on the Indiana side is 781 feet, and on the Kentucky side 3,990 feet. The bridge contains 2,414,261 pounds of steel and 3,625,000 pounds of wrought iron. It affords accommodation for railway, carriage, street car, and foot traffic. The Louisville bridge, which was constructed in 1868-72, is 5,218 feet in length and cost f2,oi6,8ig. It contains twenty-seven spans, the one over the middle chute of the river being 370 feet long, and that over the Indiana chute 400 feet long. The bridge is ninety-si.x and one-half feet clear of low water. The piers are of limestone masonry and the superstructure of wTought iron. It is exclusively a railway and foot bridge. During the three vears from i8S4to 1887, the rapid increase in the number of railway lines entering Loui.sville and tlu- vast amount of traffic handled resulted in the nri;anization of a company for tlu- construction of a third l>ridge A PUBLIC .\MUSEMENT AMPHITHE.\TRE. across the Ohio, connecting the city of Jeffersonville directly with Louisville. Plans for this bridge have been prepared, and it is estimated to cost |i, 500,000. It will provide for railway and horse-car traffic, carriage and foot ways. When that bridge is completed a belt railroad could encompass the three cities at the falls. In all probability the structure will be raised within the next five years. The quarter of the city situated on the river front, being the oldest, is full of the quaintest and most interesting sug- gestion. There the houses are ancient and the population the densest. The streets have long ago lost their prestige, and the most historic buildings have fallen into decay and neglect. The concentration of the traffic and business of two hundred thousand people has long ago driven out of this quarter the people who once surrounded themselves with all that wealth and taste could procure. The river front itself is now occupied by railroad tracks, and there are accu- mulating the warehouses, roundhouses, and freight-sheds of a great transportation system. Main street, the great wholesale and tobacco street of Louisville, being the first thoroughfare next to the river settle- ment, naturally contains many evidences of the original character of the city. Many of the business houses are old- fashioned, plain and small, while interspersed among these are some of the handsomest and most costly modern struct- ures. There are few streets where the unceasing traffic of heavy business may be seen in such volume as here. During the busy seasons the roar and noise of vans and wagons are deafening. Where Ninth street intersects, begins the "tobacco district," where are conducted the great sales, and where are situated the great warehouses, capable of handling 150,000 hogsheads annualh^ The scenes on the tobacco "breaks" on sale days is a novel one, and characteristic of the section and of the trade. There are several hundred resident and special buyers present, who make the rounds from one warehouse to the other "sampling" the hogsheads before bidding. The peculiar reasons for the growth of Louis- ville as a tobacco market have long ago been pointed out. "All planters must be aware," wTote one historian of the trade, "that New Orleans became a leading market originally because it was the nearest eligible point to the mouth of the Mississippi river, and the onlv oiitlet from the West to a foreign market. The class of buyers, who probably more than all others give character to that market, were the agents of European governments, who monopolized the trade at 27 Modern Tenements — Third Street. home aud virtually regulated prices in this couutry. They were wholesale buyers, wanting hundreds and thousands of hogsheads at a time, and to meet their views the individuality of the planter was lost sight of. The merchant arranged his samples in classes, putting the crops of many farmers in one round lot, which was sold at an agreed average price. After the sale he sub-classified the round lot aud made a pro-rata apportionment of prices according to his judgment of the relative value of the several hogsheads, to say nothing of the difficulty of figuring out the ;g^^;. several prices, so as to divide fairly all the funds received for the round lot, nor of the ^^ '^ -^ human nature in most men which would persuade the merchant that the larger shipper and most influential man was entitled to better prices than the ob- scure farmer, or unknown shippers ; granting that no errors were made in calculation, and that no interested motive prompted favorit- ism, still the relative value of the tobacco was determined by one man. Now, admitting this merchant to be competent in such cases to divide equitably the last cent ; that he could rise so far above the promptings of selfishness as to do justice to all alike, and that his single judgment in the appor- tionment of prices is worth as much as the com- bined judgments of fifty buyers in open compe- tition at an auction sale, yet there was at New Orleans only an export market. These remarks apply equally to New York, except that there is at New York a market for manufacturing leaf But there is not, nor can there be in such a mar- ket, any competition over the single hogshead." The system prevailing in the Louisville mar- ket is of daily auction sales for cash, in the open market, emphatically upon the merits of the product. The active competition of hundreds of buyers assures the planters of more speedy and equitable returns for their crops, and this fact in connection with the changes in transportation, and the channels for distribution compulsively provided, had the result of making Louisville, as early as 1S64, the largest primary- leaf tobacco market in the world. Since that date large manufacturers North and East, as well as exporters, aud manufact- urers and dealers abroad, have either resident agents and buyers here, or are annualh- represented by bu^-ers who spend as umch time in Louisville as may be necessary to purchase supplies of the types of tobacco offered. Tobacco planters in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Illinois, and, to a small extent, from other States, ship the article in hogs- heads to oue or another of the great warehouses here on consignment for sale. Nearly every sale of tobacco is made at public auction. The sales are held daily at some or all of the warehouses, the bogheads being previously stripped, so as to expose the tobacco, but also inspected and sampled by a competent inspector, who is responsible for the quality as represented in the sample. All favoritism is necessarily excluded, and the owner of a single hogshead has an equal chance with the owner of a thousand. On these sales, when the owner of the tobacco thinks it is struck off at too low a price, he has the privilege of rejecting the bid, withdrawing the property or leaving it with the warehouse to be offered for sale again. Thus the offerings are aunually some thousands of hogsheads greater than the actual sales. The plan of selling tobacco at auctiou by sample and in the presence of the exposed hogshead has been pursued in Louisville as far back as the records and recollection of the trade go. It seems to have originated here in the effort to deal fairly with buyer and seller alike aud to remove cause of misunderstanding aud complaint. Several other cities sell by sample, but not in the presence of the exposed hogshead, because they lack the great warehouse room, one of the characteristic features of the Louisville markets. The auction sale at a tobacco warehouse engages the active skill, judgment, and experience of scores of competitors and, while it is not like the Exchanges of New York or Chicago in uproar and bustle, the sight is quite as novel and interesting. The extent of the tobacco trade of Louisville may be realized bv illustra- ' , ' tive statistics. The hogsheads are hauled from the railway station to the warehouses on trucks, some of which, drawn bj- four horses, will carry four hogsheads, others, drawn by two horses, will carry two hogsheads. Averaging them at three hogsheads and three horses each, and considering that each hogshead must be hauled from the station and back to it, it would give on the crop of 1S86, 103,000 hogsheads — 69,000 truck-loads, requiring 207,000 horses. Estimating the length of the teams at thirty feet, the number of trucks haul- ing that tobacco would, if moving in a straight line, with only one foot between each team, make up a caravan 405 miles in length, covering b}- more than eighty miles the distance along the Ohio river from Pittsburgh to Louis- ville. Counting twelve hogsheads to a car-load, it would require 8,585 cars to transport it. These cars would make up 214J4 trains of forty cars each, stretching over seventy-five miles and requiring the efforts of 300 locomotives to move them properly. horses used in the teams were in cavalry line, it would make up a body stretching 414 miles. These statistics refer solely to the warehouse trade. The manufacture of tobacco, while it is profitably and well conducted, is not nearly so important an industry in Louisville as it could be made with the advantages of so great a 28 The Masonic U'idoti's' and Orphans' Home Building. If the 207,000 market at baud. The tobacco made up here is, however, well known for its superiority. Labor is cheap, living is inex- pensive, and there are many conditions that stand ready prepared to easily develop the city into a great tobacco manufacturing center. Fourth street has long been the fashionable shopping thoroughfare and promenade of Louisville. It is on this street that every afternoon, but particularly on Saturdays, are to be seen throngs of women so beautiful as to astonish ■ . visitors and which have had so much influence toward giving the city abroad the reputation for beautiful women that is uni- versal. The " parade" on Sat- urday is a characteristic sight. There are few shoppers who are not on foot, and the prom- enade is occupied by an endless stream of ladies. This street is lined with many handsome structures a u d i s rapidly ex- tending itself The southern end is a favorite and beautiful residence section, though met- ropolitan necessities have long since developed many rival streets and built them up with residences that are equaled in beauty a u d taste b y but few cities. 1 1 is noticeable that more money is expended upon homes than upou business houses, and a drive through the residence parts of Louisville is, therefore, productive of much pleasure and astonishment. There are no homes that have cost extraordinary sums, but the average luxury aud beauty o f the houses give Louisville the appearance of a city of palaces. The public buildings are handsome and numerous. Those built by the city, especi- ally, are monuments of taste and liberality. Principal among the public buildings is the new Custom House, at the corner of Fourth aud Chestnut, which is of white stone, and will cost about $2,500,000 when completed. The County Court House IS a massive and pure specimen of Corinthian architecture, with a por- tico of unusual beauty. Adjacent is the City Hall, built at a great cost. The Board of Trade, the City Work House, the Alms House, the School for the Blind, the City Hospital, the University buildings, aud the numerous exteusive charities present architectural attractions that serve to ornament every part of the city. The Central Asylum for the Insane, at Anchorage, in the suburbs, is conceded to be one of the most complete and beautiful institutions in the world. There are two driving parks, at the Fair Grounds and Highland Park, both situated to the South of the city, and affording charming drives. The Jockey Club Park, on Churchill Downs, near by, is semi-annually the scene of great race meetings, which have given to the record many of the most remark- able performers and performances. In the eastern eud of the city, the new water reservoir affords handsome park opportunities, and in that direction also is Cave Hill Cemetery, by natural advantages of locatiou and lavish expenditure for beautifying purposes, one of the loveliest cemeteries in America. Louisville is surrounded by many suburbs that are delightful for residence. These are Parkland, to the south-west, Clifton, the Highlands, Anchorage, and Pewee Valley, to the east. The two Indiana cities of New Albauy and Jeffer- sonville, with a combined population of about 45,000, are practically a part of Louisville, connected with it by bridges and ferries, aud have a common industrial aud commercial interest. 29 ON M.\IN STREET. The rate of growth which Louisville has experienced during the past seven years indicates that the next census wnll find it the largest city of the South, and one rivaling in business and manufactures any of the cities of the North of equal population. The people who make up the community are best estimated through the important public works, the beautiful homes, and the large and liberal charities which they have built. The care and taste that have been lavished upon homes speak of people of broad culture, and well founded in the conservative impulses that cherish patriotism and encourage order and intelligence. It is not surprising that such a people should have established so remarkable an educational S}-steni in which, from primary knowledge to complete technical learning, all the arts, sciences, and virtues are taught. The extent and variety of the school facilities make Louisville worthy to be called the University City, and out of this atmosphere has evolved a society gifted with taste and intelligence of a high order. The charitable institutions mark a community of generous nature, the reflection of the home life so strikingly characteristic of the people. The homes themselves are the common pride of all. There are few cities in the world where the people are so well housed, or where a larger proportion of tlie population are thus bound up in the welfare of all. Building is cheap and land is low ; so that most of the residences are surrounded by spacious grounds, and every house has its yard. It is estimated that in Louisville, the houses average but tw'o to each one hundred feet of ground, while in cities of the same size, they usually average four houses to the same space. The streets being universally shaded with oak, elm, maple, poplar, and linden trees, the streets in spring and summer present a most beautiful aspect. In May, Louisville resembles a garden, so generally are the shaded and cool avenues and streets adorned by flowers in every yard. During the summer, it deserves its title of the prettiest city in the South. Its healthfulness is remarkable, and its population being order-loving and contented, there are seldom, or never, any disorderly outbreaks. In a word, no more delightful place of residence, and no more promising place for business, could be selected anywhere in the United States. 30 Louisville's Coal PuturE, ps^^ HE basis for unlimited development of wealth and industry in Louisville is admirably shown in a * paper by the Hon. J. Stoddard Johnston on "The Kentucky River iu its Relation to the Development of the Eastern Kentxicky Coal Field," and which was read Vjefore the State Industrial and Commer- cial Conference in Octolier, iSS". The development of this region will make of Louisville a greater than Pittsburgh with all its enjovment of long monopoly of the coal supply of the West : There are two Coal Fields iu Kentucky — the Western, comprising about four thousand square miles, which lies about seventy miles south-west of Louisville, and is bisected by the Green river, which is navigable by slack-water throughout its limits. It is also penetrated by several rail- roads — the Huntington system, which traverses it from east to west, in its route from Louisville to Memphis, the Louisville & Nashville, which crosses it from north to south with two lines, one from Henderson and the other from Owensboro, the Ohio Valley Railroad from Henderson to Marion, in Crittenden county, and the Louisville, St. Louis & Texas, now in course of construc- tion along the Ohio river, from the mouth of Salt river, looking to a connection with the Ohio Valley road at Hen- derson. The topograph)- of the conntr)- which it embraces, not being mountainous, is favorable for the construction of railroads, aud, with those already in operation or projected, it will soon, in conjunction with the navigation of Green river, when made free of tolls, have ample transportation for the development of its resources in coal, iron, and timber. The coal of this field is chiefly a soft bituminous, good for grate and steam purposes, but as yet has not had satis- factory development for coking. There is also a limited area of Cannel coal — a superior article known as the Breck- inridge Cannel Coal, found in Breckinridge county, in a twenty-eight inch stratum. It covers about two or three thousand acres, and a mine, situated eight miles from the Ohio river, at Cloverport, is worked by an English company who have constructed a railroad by which the coal is conveyed to the river, aud thence transported by water to New Orleans, whence it is shipped to Liverpool. THE E.\STERN' CO.\L FIELD. The other, or Eastern Coal Field, comprises more than 10,000 scjuare miles, or one-fourth the area of the State. Its eastern boundary is the Cumberland mountains — the boundary between Kentucky and Virginia — and it runs trans- versely across the State from north-east south-wcstwardly, having an average breadth of seventy-five or eighty miles. It is part of the same coal field which passes northward into West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, embracing the New river and Connellsville Coking Districts, and which traverses Tennessee on the meridian of Chattanooga and Alabama, through Birmingham, widening in its northern course, aud narrowing in its southern, until it ceases to exist a short dis- tance south of Birmingham. That the Eastern and Western Coal Fields were once united, aud that the intervening territory was denuded of coal by erosion, is patent to geologists, but foreign to the scope of this article to discuss. The altitude of the Eastern Coal Field increases from west to east, the elevation, above sea level, of the hills in which coal is first found, on its western border, being about one thousand feet, aud the elevation of the Cumberland range, on the eastern border, being from three thousand five hundred feet to four thousand feet. On the other hand, the geologic dip of the coal and stratified rocks is to the east and south, being very gradual and uniform, until reach- ing the Cumberland uplift, when, for a breadth of about twenty miles, all the strata of coal which had passed succes- sively below the surface have been lifted above drainage. Underlying the coal is the subcarbouiferous limestone, which bounds the western limit of the coal field, but disappears shortly after the first coal develops, and is not seen again until uplifted in the Cumberland ran,ge, finding its best development on the Virginia side of the Cumberland mountains. Both borders of the coal field have also iron deposits of various merit ; on the Eastern are hematites, and the Western, limonites and carbonates — a superior quality of the latter being the well-known Red river car-wheel ore, which rests immediately upon the limestoue, and of the former the Hocking Valley ore, which lies stratified above the conglomerate sandstone, which caps two workaljle strata of coal. While the general features of the Eastern Coal Field conform to this description, I propose in this paper to speak more particularly of a section drawn through the coal field from west to east, from the Three Forks of the Kentucky river to Big Stone Gap in south-west Virginia. This coal field is penetrated by the following rivers : The Big Sandy, which forms the boundary between Kentucky and West Virginia ; the Licking, which enters the Ohio at Cincinnati ; the Kentucky, the three branches of which, heading respectively in the direction of Pound, Big Stone, and Cumberland Gaps, unite in Lee county near the western border of the coal field, and the Cumberland river, which, heading between the main Cumberland mountain and Pine mountain, parallel ranges, flows near the western base of the latter, and breaks through it at Pineville, in Bell county. 'The topography of the coal field is such that the ranges of the hills or mountains conform in direction with that of the rivers, so that the construction of railroads, while practical iu the direction of the drainage, is almost impossible across drainage. As yet there has been but a partial penetration of the coal field ; the Chesapeake & Ohio (Huntington's trans-continental system) passing through but two counties. Carter and Boyd, having coal in but a limited development. The Cincinnati Southern passes through but a similar strip of its southern border in the counties of Pulaski and Wayne, while, singularly enough, the Knoxville Branch of the Louis- 31 ville & Nashville road skirts it, as it were, in but two more counties, Laurel and Whitley. A local road has been con- structed from Mt. Sterling to the coal in Menifee, but has not proved a successful enterprise. The obstacle to building railroads through this field has been, that it would not pay to run a local road to the coal merely for this mineral, since the cheaper transportation from Pennsylvania and West Virginia by the Ohio river has forbidden competition, and the cost of a through route to connect with the Eastern and South-eastern systems has heretofore been too great to be justi- fied by the demand for such transportation. But, latterly, the awakened demand for iron and coal has led to the pro- jection of several A railroads, on both sides of the mountains, looking to a junction of the two systems. This --' f5. movement has had its chief impetus in the discovery of rich magnetic and Bessemer iron ores in North Carolina, about seventy-five miles from the Kentucky coal field, and the demand for the coal for its reduction, there being no coal in North Carolina, or nearer than in Kentucky. A road is in course of construction from Bristol, Tennessee, to Big Stone Gap, and the Norfolk & Western has contracted with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad to meet it near the same point, by constructing an extension from the north-east of about eight}- miles, for which the contract has been let. To meet this the Louisville & Nashville is now building an extension from a point on its Knoxville Branch to Pineville, in Bell county, Kentucky, which will be completed within the current year, and thence extended to meet the Norfolk & Western, as staled above, giving a new and shorter route from Louisville to the seaboard. Other routes are projected from the Cranberry iron region in North Carolina to Cumberland or Big ji,; Stone Gap, and from Knoxville to Cumberland Gap, looking in the direction of Cin- cinnati. For the latter road the city of Knoxville has voted a subscription of half a million, and the work has been let to contract. In all this region of south-western Virginia and south-eastern Kentucky, in view of this railroad development, actual and projected, a great deal of capital is being invested by eastern and English, as well as by Kentucky, companies. The price of Bn// B/oi/;. all land has, within the past twelve months, been advanced ten-fold, and a region which has beeu long dormant, and apparently without hope of development, is now quickened with a new energy. Immigration and capital are being directed toward it, and visible signs of improvement are apparent in the building of a better class of dwellings, the opening of new roads, greater interest in schools, a general increase of thrift, and the better observance of law. It is the prospective junction of the Louisville & Nash- ville Railroad with the system of roads lying east of the mountains which has wrought this change, the full import of which will not be realized until the connection has been made a year hence. When the practicability of the junc- tion of the two systems has been demonstrated, and the roads projected on the eastern side of the mountains shall reach the gaps which make the gateways to the Eastern Coal Field, of Kentucky, other roads from the western side will seek connection with them, and other routes be established across the coal field. Already the extension of the Chattaroi Railroad up the Big Sandy is announced as a part of a system from Chicago and Cincinnati to Charleston, South Carolina, while the Kentucky Eastern Railroad, which runs from Riverton, Greenup county, to Willard, Carter county, contemplates extension in the same direction. Huntington, who is building one hundred and forty miles of road from Ashland, Kentucky, to Cincinnati, has bought a local road running from Johnson's Station, on the Mays- ville & Paris road, to Hillsboro, Fleming county, and has been making surs'eys, indicating a purpose to extend it up the Licking Valley, through the rich Cannel coal fields of Morgan and Magoffin, in the direction of Pound Gap. Scott, a n d ileposits atte n- The Paris, Frankfort & Georgetown road, for which subscriptions have been voted in Franklin, Bourbon, is also projected to run from Frankfort, through Georgetown and Paris, to the coal of the Licking and Big Sandy. For the upper Kentucky river several roads are commanding tion. The Kentucky Union, which has thirteen miles constructed from the Chesapeake cS: Ohio, at Hedge's Station, in Clark county, to Clay City, contemplates extension by way of the Three Forks to the Cannel coals of Breathitt county, and thence up the North Fork to Pound or Big Stone Gap. The Louisville, Cincinnati & Virginia Railroad, from Winchester to the Three Forks, and thence up the Middle Fork to Big Stone Gap, and up the South Fork to Cumberland Gap, has been voted subscriptions from Clark, Estill, and Lee counties, and within the past ten days has broken ground, thus holding out to Cincinnati the most direct route acro.ss the Eastern Coal Field. Still a third route from Richmond, in Madison county, Kentucky, has been under con- sideration for six or eight years, the road to the Three Fork having at one time been located and let to contract, but suspended by the financial crash of 1884. Its import- ance to Louisville as a possible extension of the Louisville Southern, and as part of a trunk road to connect St. Louis and Chicago with the south-eastern system, ren- ders it only a question of time when it also will be put under cou.struction. THE KENTUCKY RIVER. * But while it will doubtless be but a short time until all the rivers which pene- trate the Eastern Coal Field will be utilized as routes for the construction of rail- roads, the Kentucky river, from its central position, the number of its tributaries, and its availability as a means of transportation for a greater part of its course, presents the best advantages for the de- velopment of the Eastern Coal Field, and as a route for the construction of one or more railroads to connect the eastern and western railroad systems. It has three principal tributaries known as the North, Middle, and South Forks, which, rising in the Cumberland mountains, come together, after traversing the heavily timbered coal field near 32 ^w^^-^^ T/te "A'ivnoii. Beattyville, in Lee county, at what is known as the Three Forks. From this point, wliich is near the western border of the coal field to its mouth at Carrollton, a distance of two hundred and fifty miles, it traverses one of the richest sections of the State, leaving the carboniferous formation near the line of Estill and Lee, entering the Trenton limestone in Madison, and flowing through the counties of Clark, Garrard, Fayette, Mercer, Woodford, Anderson, Franklin, Henry, Owen, and Carroll, to the Ohio, through the Lower and Upper Silurian. The project of its improvement by locks and dams was begun by the State fifty years ago, and in 1S43 five locks and dams were completed at a cost of over four mill- ions, gi\ang navigation for steamers of three hundred tons for a distance of about one htmdred miles from the mouth. The maintenance of the navigation became in time a burthen to the State, and, at the close of the war, the system was practically worthless. Various efforts were made looking to a restoration of the old works and the extension of navi- gation by additional locks and dams to the Three Forks as originally designed, but without result, until in 1879-80 the Legislature of Kentucky ceded the locks and dams to the United States, upon condition that Congress would repair them, make navigation free, and exten'5^ 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 Cum- 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 j-ears ago predicted would be the center of iron and steel manufacture in the United States, a careful study of the map ivill 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 border 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 be found in the same hill, limestone, coal for smelting, which would not need coking, and two kinds of iron ore, the car-wheel carbonate 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 witli 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 18S0 — 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 Louisville 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 be 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 our 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 36 A Market Street Block. 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 both from the tralTic 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'^ Miigiui 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 be opened in Kentucky when once this great coal field shall be penetrated by such a road or roads. Although I have showu that twenty or thirty counties are, from their relations to the Kentucky river, directh- 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 by every portion of it. Louisville will be 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 gieat demand will spring up at once for capital and labor, and a new field for enterprise opened for the energetic yonng men 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, 37 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, but it will bring back to us thousands of Kentuckians who, ha\'ing 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 than 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 mav 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 position in the great march of progress which marks this period of our country's history. 38 Loui5villE and KEntucky *S the coininercial metropolis of Kentucky, drawing its vigor and wealth from the abundance that ? :/ X is brought from the State to seek exchange, Louisville's future possibilities can not be adequately /ju.-^C- S^^g^fl without understanding fully the resources and development of Kentucky. A report pre- m'tr^ pared in iSS6 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 vState 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 1.S56 Kentucky leaf tobacco, according to reliabl\' kept records, has netted to the grower not less than $267,030,030, and the distribution of this enormous sum has been so gen- 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, in 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 indu.stries — 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 anv 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 has for many years attracted a large share 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 uo 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 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. MECH.\NIC.\I. INDUSTRIES. Cominf now to the industries classed as mechanical, the State makes a better showing. According to the decennial census reports. Kentucky, in i860, had 2,478 establishments, with an invested capital of 111,456,942. These consumed that year materials valued at |i7,i47,30i, and turned out products valued at $26,608,163. I1 1870 the number of estab- 39 AN OLD KENTUCKY HOME. lishments was reduced, by consolidation principally, to 2,204, but the capital invested amounted to 121,874,385, and materials valued at 122,598,651 were used to produce goods aggregating 140,629,811 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 136,362,477, 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 1S70-S0 771 Increase in number of establishments between 1880-85 2,244 Increase in aggregate capital — Between 1860-70 $10,417,443 Between 1870-80 14,488,092 Between 1880-85 20,846,137 Increase in value of materials used — Between 1860-70 | 5451.33° Between 1S70-80 19,257,286 Between 1880-S5 18,976,525 Increase in value of products — Between 1860-70 $14,021,648 Between 1870-S0 23,282,334 Between 1880-85 39.391. 5i4 TRANSP0RT.4TION F.\CILITIES. 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 various 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 sav 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 18S5 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 and shipments for two years are given in contrast with corresponding transactions by river. Still, we believe that as a medium for the transportation of heavy freights and imperishable commodities, such as coal and the different products of iron, the river will never be wholly superseded by rail routes ; but otherwise it is but a ([uestion of a verv few vears when nearly the whole of the volume of interstate and littoral commerce will be diverted from the rivers. Each season adds to this prospect, whose realization is forecast in the increasing parsimony of Con- gress toward the river improvement systems inaugurated in a more liberal period, when the commerce of the South and East was interchanged along these great natural highways. WATER-\V.\YS. The most important facts in the commercial history of the State from the earliest period until the era of railroads began have been the remarkable facilities afforded by its water-ways. The entire river system of the Mississippi Valley has its center within the borders of Kentucky, and her territory is penetrated by more miles of navigable rivers than any other State in the LTnion. She has nearly fifteen hundred miles of streams that are navigable at all stages of water, and about four thousand miles can be made navigable by locks and dams. These give access to the whole Missis- sippi system of inland navigation, which includes about twenty-five thousand miles of streams now navigable or readily rendered so with the usual methods of river improvements. The north-western border of the State has a continuous river frontage on the Ohio and Mississippi of 723 miles. Of the navigable water-courses within the State, all of them draining toward the Ohio river, the following are the principal : The Green river and its tributaries, na\-igable by locks and dams for 26S miles ; the Tennessee river, navigable from its mouth to Florence, Alabama, a distance of about 250 miles ; the Kentucky river with its three forks is susceptible of navigation for 400 miles from its mouth ; the Cumber- laud river, navigable from its mouth to a point about one hundred miles above Nashville ; the Big Sandy river navigable from its mouth at Catlettsburg to Louisa, a distance of about seventy-five miles ; the Licking river, navigable from its mouth at Covington, to Falmouth, a distance of 125 miles. Each of these rivers penetrates or connects with a vast dis- trict abounding in the richest deposits of iron and coal, and immense tracts of valuable timber. Regular lines of steamboats accommodate the traffic natural to the territory. KENTUCKY R.\II,ROADS. The first railroad built in Kentuckv, and the first completed west of the Alleghanies, was the Lexington & Ohio Railroad, now know as a part of the "Short Line" division of the Louisville & Nashville system. It was begun in 40 October, 1S31, at the Lexington end, and completed to Frankfort in December, 1S35. It was laid that distance with flat rails fastened to stone sleepers. In 1851 the line was completed to Louisville, and in 1881 was purchased by the Louis- ville & Cincinnati Short Line, that had been completed in 1S69. The Louisville & Nashville road was begun in 1S51, and finished to Nashville, 185 miles, and opened to business in 1859. Two years previous to the latter date the company had built a branch road to Lebanon, Kentucky, which made up the entire Louisville & Nashville system at the commencement of the war. The Bardstown branch was purchased in 1S65. The Richmond branch was opened in 186S, and the same year the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville road was leased as a part of its new Southern system. Two years after, the Memphis & Ohio road was secured, and what is now known as the Memphis division was formally opened. Both of these leased lines were purchased by the Louisville & Nashville in 1S71-72. The Cecilian branch was thus secured in 1871, and in 1879, the Edgefield & Kentucky road and the Evansville, Henderson & Nashville road were both bought by the company, and, together, now form the Kentucky \ N?:\V KKXTrCKV HOM and Tennessee portions of the St. Louis division. As already stated, the Louisville & Nashville Company purchased the Louisville, Cincinnati & Lexington road in 18S1, thus connecting the Company's lines with all the Eastern roads at Cincinnati. With the subsequent extensions of the lines of this Company outside the State on the South, by which it now controls a system aggregating 3,034 miles, the scope of this article does not permit me to deal. The Chesapeake & Ohio traverses the entire length of the State, from east to west, and penetrates the vast coal, mineral, and timber regions of Kentucky. The original line extended from Newport News, in Virginia, via Richmond, to the Big Sandy river, and was formed in 1S68 by consolidating the Virginia Central and the Covington & Ohio Rail- roads, comprising a line 512 miles in length. In 1875 the line became involved, and was placed in a receiver's hands. In 1S78 it was sold, and a new company organized, with Mr. C. P. Huntingto 1 at its head. He rapidly developed the western connections of the road, and now it forms a continuous line 927 miles long, composed of the Chesapeake & Ohio, to the Big ',,Sandy river, the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy, and Louisville, Frankfort & Lexington, to Louisville, and the Chesapeake, Ohio & South-western (formerly the Elizabethtown & Paducah), extending from Louis- ville to Memphis, via Paducah. The Kentucky Central Railroad, originally known as the Lexington & Maysville Railroad, was begun in 1851, Lexington having subscribed f 200,000 towards its construction. The line was compleed from Lexington to Paris in 1853, and in October, 1854, it was entirely finished to Covington. The branch line to Maysville w-as completed a few- years later. The entire road now forms the Cincinnati division of the Chesapeake & Ohio system. The Cincinnati Southern was begun in January, 1872, and pushed to completion as rapidly as possible thereafter. The line cost nearly twenty million dollars to construct, and was opened for business between Cincinnati and Chatta- nooga in 1878. Like the Louisville & Nashville, this road has established ample Southern connections of great advan- tage to Kentucky. The existing railways of the State form a system which wants but a few connecting links to give it an admirable relation to the rest of the country. The North and South lines consist of the following roads, beginning on the east : The Eastern Kentucky, from Riverton, in Greenup county, to Willard, in Carter county, thirty-five miles of road built to develop the coal and iron districts of this section, with the expectation of eventual continuation to Pound Gap, and connecting with the South-eastern system. The Maysville & Lexington Railway, running south as far as Lexington, and connecting there with the system of roads about to be described. Third in the series on the west, we have the Ken- tucky Central Railway, now extending from Covington, a junction with the Knoxville branch of the Louisville & Nashville at Stanford, along the banks of the main Licking Valley and its South Fork. The continuation of this road by either Pond Gap or Cumberland Gap, to the railway system of Eastern Tennessee and, the Valley of Virginia, is likely to be accomplished at an early day. The Cinciunati Southern Railway, from the mouth of the Lickiug directly south to Chattanooga, affords an admiraljly built road, traversing the State, forming as it does a main line to the South and South-east. The Lexington & Big Sandy is completed as far as Mount Sterling, iu Montgomery couuty. This road when finished will give Kentucky cheaper and more direct communication, by way of the Chesapeake & Ohio railway, with the Atlantic ports. The Kentucky & Great Eastern Railway is a prosperous road, on which considerable work has l)een done, extending up the south bank of the Ohio river from Newport to the Big Sandy river. The completion of this road will add "reatlv to the wealth of the river line of counties, and will give them a shorter road to the Atlantic ports than they now have. The Louisville, Frankfort & Lexington Railroad extends through the counties of Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby, Frank- lin, and Favette. From Lagrange, in Oldham couuty, a branch extends from this road to Cincinnati, known as the Louisville & Cinciunati Short Line, that line passing through the counties of Oldham, Henr\-, Grant, Carroll, CVallatin, Boone, and Kenton. The Cumberland & Ohio Railroad, narrow gauge, now built from Shelbyville to Bloomfield, when completed, will pass through the counties of Henry, Spencer, Shelby, Nelson, Washington, Marion, Taylor, Greene, Metcalf, P.arren, and Allen. Its length in Kentucky will be 165 miles. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad extends, with its branches, a distance of 365.4 miles through Kentucky iu different directions. The main .stem, from Louisville to Nashville, has a length, within the limits of the State, of 139.6 miles, running through the counties of Jefferson, Bullitt, Nelson, Hardin, Larue, Hart, Edmonson, Barren, Warreu, and Simpson. The Memphis Ijranch runs through the counties of Warren, Logan, and Todd, having a length in the State of fortv-six miles. The Knoxville branch extends into South-eastern Kentucky, running through the counties of Nelson, Marion, Boyle, Lincoln, and Rockcastle. It has been completed to the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, where it makes connection with the entire railway systems of the East and South, and of all the cities of the South Atlantic sea- board at the Gulf of Mexico. This road, from its junction with the Louisville & Nashville at Lebanon Junction to the State line, is 170 miles iu length. The Richmond branch runs through the counties of Lincoln, Garrard, and Madison for 33.4 miles, to within a short distance of the rich iron region of Kentucky. The Bardstowu branch runs through the county of Nelson, a distance of 17.3 miles. The Glasgow branch, 10.2 miles, runs to Glasgow, the county seat of Barren county. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad is undeniably one of the most important thoroughfares on this continent. It is onlv second to the Mississippi river as a way for commerce between the Northern and Southern Stales. By means of the magnificent railway bridges over the Ohio river at Louisville and Henderson it connects with all the great Northern roads, and at Nashville and Memphis, its Southern termini, it connects with all the important roads in the South. The Chesapeake, Ohio & South-western Railroad extends from Louisville to Paducah, a flourishing city situated on the banks of the Ohio river, fiftv miles from its junction with the Mississippi, and is the principal market town of Western Kentucky. This railroad penetrates Western Kentucky iu such a manner, therefore, as to afford eas}- access to a large portion of that section. It runs through the counties of Hardin, Grayson, Ohio, Muhlenburg, Hopkins, Caldwell, Lyon, Livingston, Marshall, and McCracken. It passes directly through that section of the valuable coal fields of Western Kentucky, which lies within the area of the counties of Ohio, Muhlenburg, Hopkins, and Grayson. The entire length of the Chesapeake, Ohio &. South-western Railroad is 225 miles, all of which is iu the territory of Kentucky. The Paducah & Memphis Railroad, which has been absorbed by the Chesapeake, Ohio & South-western road, runs through the counties of McCracken, Graves, Hickman, and Fulton, counecting at Memphis with all the South-western railroads. The Evansville, Henderson & Nashville Railroad, from Henderson, on the Ohio river, to Nashville, Tennessee, under lease to the Louisville & Nashville, passes through the counties of Henderson, Webster, Hopkins, Christian, and Todd. At Henderson the ferry takes cars to the Northern system of roads. It forms the most important link in a great trunk line known as the St. Louis & South-easteru Railway. The New Orleans, St. Louis & Cairo Railroad passes through the counties of Ballard and Hickman, The Moljile & Ohio Railroad, connecting the city of Mobile with the Ohio river, penetrates Kentucky through the counties of Hickman and Fulton. At Columbus, in Hickman county, a ferry fitted for the carriage of trains gives passage of cars from St. Louis directly through to the South-eastern cities. RAILRO.^DS NOW BUILDING. It is in roads with eastern connections that the State lacks most. There is but a single railway, the Chesapeake & Ohio, crossing the eastern line of the State. It is to this difficulty of access from the seaward that the State owes the small share it has had in the immigration of capital and labor that has filled the lands of less attractive regions. Three routes have been begun, which, when completed, will fully remedy this grave defect, namely : A road from Louisville to the South-east, via Cumberland Gap, completed to Livingston, and requiring a continuation of about one hundred miles to connect with roads leading from Morristown, Tennessee, to Charleston, South Carolina ; a road from Slount Sterling to Abingdon, Virginia, via Pond Gap, requiring about one hundred aud sixty miles of road to complete the connection. There is a project for building up, east and west, a road along the northern range of counties of the State, giving a con. tinuous route to Henderson, aud the roads connecting at that poiut to the connections with Charleston and Savannah from Morristown, Tennessee ; also a project for a road from Chicago to Charleston, crossing Kentucky from Gallatin couuty to Cumberland Gap ; the contract to build the one-hundred-and-forty-mile extension of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, from Ashland to Covington, Kentucky, aud the contract for the masonry for a bridge across the Ohio river at Covington, have been let. The Chesapeake & Nashville Railroad, a part of the Huntingtou system, which will extend from Nashville to Cincinnati, aud form an air line through the eastern part of the State, is now uuder process of con- struction. 42 A railroad has lieen projected from a connection with the Chesapeake & Ohio, at Lexington, via Harrodslnirg, Lebanon, Canipbellsville, Greensburg, Glasgow, Scottsville, and so on to Nashville. Tennessee. This projected line is under the auspices of that well-known railway operator, Mr. Huntington, of the Chesapeake & Ohio and transconti- nental lines, and will doubtless be constructed at an early day. When it is completed it will form a competing line with others crossing the State from north to south, thus cheapening freights and transportation, and preventing monopoly. The Kentucky I'nion and the Kentucky & South Atlantic Railroads are two of the most promising lines of new roads projected through the mountains. The first starts from Hed.ge's Station, on the Chesapeake & Ohio road, and runs thence south-eastwardly through Powell, Wolfe, Breathitt, Perry, and Letcher counties, to Pond Gap. The line of the second — the Kentuckj- & South Atlantic — starts from Mount Sterling, and running first nearly east to, French- burg, to which it is now completed, there deflects south-eastwardly, and proceeds through the counties of Menifee, Wolfe, Breathitt, Perry, and Letcher, to Big Stone Gap, which is only some ten miles south of Pond Gap. The two roads will probalily cross each other in Breathitt county, which is said to be the richest of the coal and iron counties. After passing through the gaps in the Cumberland chain of mountains, both roads will proceed as nearly as possible on an air line, the first to Abingdon, the other to Bristol, both those towns being on the East Tennessee & Virginia Rail- way, one of the main trunk lines conncrting the Eastern States .itid cities with tlic Smith and Wc^t P.ntli tlucc Hues From Harp-T*^ M 111, ls8b. h\ Harper & Bruthcra. A I!I,rK('.R.\S.S SHEEP PA.STrKlC, of road, through the mountains, which are intemled to develop the richest portion of the coal and iron fields of that region, have been constructed a distance of about eighteen or twenty miles, and both of them are to be pushed to com- pletion at the earliest practicable day. The Kentucky & South Atlantic management announce that the work is to be pushed from both ends of their line. A large force is at work on the western diNasion not far from the Three Forks, and a still larger force at the other terminus, near Bristol, whence it is promised that the work will be pressed with all possible speed to Big Stone Gap, Hazard, and so on, to a meeting with the force working up from the western terminus. It is promised by the contractors that this road will be completed and put in operation by or before the ist of August, 1888. Judging by the amount of capital said to be at the back of both these roads, combined with the skilled and experienced building companies who have undertaken their con.struction, it is safe to say that both will be completed by or before January i, 1S8S. and the vast amount of mineral and other wealth of the entire region through which they run, a region extending from the "bluegrass" of Kentucky on the west, to the "bluegrass" of Virginia on the east, ynd stretching from the Ohio river on the north, to the Tennessee line on the south — all this boundless and inexhaustible wealth amply justifies their construction on competing lines. From the western boundaries of Powell and Estill 43 counties to Pond and Big Stone Gaps are to be found eshaustless treasures of the best iron and coal in the world, not to speak of the vast forests of the very best timber. The gold medal of the Centennial International Exposition, at Philadelphia, in 1S76, was awarded the Haddock Coal Mining Company, of Breathitt county, "for the best Canuel coal in America," mined right on the line of the Kentucky Union Railroad. lu fact, these two iron highwaj'S will bind together the railway system of the entire North- west with that of the Gulf and South Atlantic States ; it w'ill connect all the rest of the world with the mountain counties of Kentucky, filled w'ith the best car-wheel iron ores, coking and Cannel coals, and all sorts of hardwood timber. A branch railroad, eight miles in length, has been completed from Midway, on the road from Frankfort to Lexington, to the town of Versailles, in Woodford county, and has now been transporting freight and passengers for several months. It is in contemplation to extend the line first northwardly to Georgetown, and later to Harrodsburg, thus placing it in connection with the Cincinnati Southern, and other systems both North and South. The construction of the Indiana, Alabama & Texas Railroad, whose termini are at Princeton, Kentucky, and Clarks- ville, Tennessee, was begun at the Clarksville end some three years ago. Ten miles from Clarksville it enters Ken- tucky at a point in Christian county, some tour miles from the Todd county line, on the Tennessee State line, and runs thence north-westerly through the county of Christian. This road, completed to Princeton, is sixty miles in length, about fifty of which are in Kentucky. It is a narrow-gauge road, and the president of the company. Major E. C. Gordon, resides at Clarksville. All the way from Clarksville to Princeton it runs through one of the very finest agricultural regions in all Kentucky, and is therefore certain to prove a paying road. As a feeder to the EHzabethtown & Paducah, or Louisville & South-western on the one hand, and the Memphis branch of the Louisville S: Nashville, with which it connects at Clarksville, on the other, it is bound to prove a complete success. Another new road in the same section of the State is the Elkton & Guthrie branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. This road is twelve miles long, is admirably constructed and equipped, and was built in 1884. This road runs through one of the finest agricultural sections of the State, with an intelligent, thrifty, and prosperous population ; the transportation to market of whose surplus products, with their general commerce with the outside world, will be sure to make this branch road a paying property, especially to the Louisville & Nashville, of which it is a feeder. Still another line in the same quarter of the State, the most of which has been built within the past two or three years, is the Owensboro & Nashville Railroad, eighty-three and one-half miles of which are in Kentucky, and about forty miles of which have been completed during the past year. This is also a well-constructed road, and running as it does through the wealthy counties of Daviess, McLean, Muhlenburg and Logan, it is one of the most important lines in the State, independent of the fact that it connects the wealthy counties of Southern Indiana with the finest agricultural and manufacturing sections of Tennessee. These considerations combine to make it probably one of the best paying lines in the South. Still another new railroad has just been built across this part of the State, from the Ohio river at Henderson, into Tennessee. The line of this road was surveyed last suinmer from Evansville and Henderson down through Morgan- field and Dekoven, in Union county ; Marion, in Crittenden county ; Eureka, at the crossing of the Chesapeake & Ohio and the Cumberland river, in Lyon county ; Aurora, at the crossing of the Tennessee river, in Marshall county ; Murray, in Calloway county, and so on to the terminus at Jackson, in Western Tennessee. It is called "The Ohio Valley Rail- road," and, extending in a south-westwardly direction from the Ohio at Henderson, will open up a portion of country, which is one of the richest in minerals, such as coal, iron, and the finest building stone, and agricultural products, such as corn, tobacco, wheat, fruits, and live stock of all kinds to be found in any part of the State. The line will be 200 miles in length, and the cost will not exceed J2, 000,000, according to the very careful estimates of the civil engineers who surveyed it. It is understood that the work will be completed at an early day. About one hundred miles of road are already in operation. The Louisville Southern, it is stated, will be completed and trains will run regularly by February i, iSSS, from Louisville to Harrodsburg Junction, a distance of eighty miles. The road will traverse the five counties of Jeflferson, Mercer, Shelby, Anderson, and Woodford, which pay one-fifth of all the State revenues and contain one-seventh of all the population of the State. This indicates how great will be the traffic that this line will bring to Louisville. The road will be the most costly in the matter of equipment in Kentucky. It is supplied with heavier steel rails than any rail- road in Kentucky, the rails all being sixty pounds. It will be equipped with elegant cars and in this respect will sur- pass the Cincinnati Southern. The Louisville, St. Louis & Texas Railway will be completed from Louisville to Henderson by June :, 1SS8, un- less the company is delayed by the bridge over Green river at Spottsville. This railroad will pass through Webster, Brandenburg, Stephensport, Hawesville, Lewisport and Yelvington. The report of the Auditor of State shows that the population and taxable wealth along this line of road exceeds that along the line of any other railroad of its length in the State. As an agricultural region, the country to be traversed by this line of road is probably not surpassed on the continent. The productions of the counties through which the roads will pass, and those tributary thereto, amount annually to over 30,000,000 pounds of tobacco, 9,000,000 bushels of corn, and other products in equal proportion. Seventy tobacco factories, a very large number of distilleries, cotton mills, and other manufactories of various kinds are located in the cities and towns along the line. The timber along this line is of the best quality. Cement rock, oolite, brown and building stone are of the finest quality, and found in immense quantities, the brown stone having been awarded the highest medal at the Centennial Exposition in 1876. From Cloverport to its western terminus, the road will pass through a continuous coal field ; it is found in veins from four to six feet in thickness, and at an elevation of from twenty to fifty feet above the located line. The celebrated Breckinridge Cannel coal is found in great abundance eight miles back of Cloverport, to which a railroad is already constructed. The supply of these coals is inexhaustible. The quality is unsurpassed, it being considered equal to Pittslnirgh coal for steam, manufacturing and domestic pur- poses. This coal is only seventy miles from tlie city of Louisville. Coal is now being hauled from West Virginia by rail, a distance of 306 miles, and sold at a profit in the Louisville market, where 800,000 tons are consumed annually. 44 Parties owning large bodies of these valuable coal and timber lands have made provision for their immediate develop- ment, and are ready to contract for the shipment of coal iu large quantities. From this source alone an enormous traffic awaits the completion of the road to the coal field. The road will be of standard gauge, laid with steel rails, and constructed with every regard to permanency and economical operation. The Louisville, Cincinnati & Dayton will be 147 miles in length and will be completed by July i, 18S9. It will pass through the towns of Madison, Vevay, Patriot, Rising Sun, Aurora, and Lawreuceburg, in Indiana, and Hamilton and Middletown, Ohio. In addition to these, three lines which will have their terminus in Louisville, and which will necessitate the building of another bridge between Jefferson and Louisville at a cost of about |i, 500,000, are being rapidly pushed through. One of these is the Frankfort, Georgetown & Paris Railroad, which will traverse the three richest Bluegrass counties and place 150,000 population in more direct communication with Louisville than Cincinnati. The road is to be constructed by county subscriptions. The completion of the Pineville branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad from Corbin to Pineville, a distance of thirty-seven miles, will be accomplished about February ist, and will open the largest coal and timber region iu the world to the Louisville market. The Louisville, Cincinnati & Virginia Railway will run from Winchester, one of the richest and most rapidly grow- ing towns in the State, through the heart of the richest mineral belt in Kentucky, to the Virginia line, where it will connect with the Norfolk & Western, South Atlantic & Ohio and other roads, making a through route from Louisville to the At- lantic and Gulf coasts. The line is located from Win- chester via Irvine to Beatty- ville, Lee county (the Three 1-orks of the Kentucky), fiftv-five miles, and it is re- ■^olved to have trains run- ning that distance by July, iSSS. The development of the railwa)- system in Kentucky has stimulated each pre- viously existing industry to g reater development, by making new markets f o r surplus products, and en- abling speedier returns and exchanges than the old system of water transporta- tion had rendered possible. Besides this advantage ac- cruing from rapid transit and broader market terri- tory, the railroads have practically, though gradu- alH', brought down the rates charged for conveying the surplus and bringing supplies for distribution. This has had the result of encouraging a svstem of interchange previou.sly unknown between the territory that naturally pays tribute to Louisville as the principal trade center of the State, and the leading markets of the East and North. The most notable example of the change wrought by the railways is found in the steady growth of Louisville and other distributing points in the State as a market for leaf tobacco. Under the old system of river transportation, Ken- tucky leaf tobacco, her leading staple, was compelled to find a market either at St. I^ouis or Cincinnati, where the annual crops could be more easily aggregated and forwarded to the export markets. With the advent of railroads this rule has been broken so far that Louisville is to-day the principal tobacco market of the world, and the growers of this staple find here and at other points in the State, a satisfactory sale at all seasons of the year. Distinctively Southern staples, such as cotton and sugar, are, since railway comnmnication has been established with the North and East, diverted largely from water-way and coastwise transportation, directly to points of consump- tion and distribution. Without these adjuncts afforded by rail routes, none of the surprising instances of enterprise and growth in the South would have been possible that are to-day subjects of common congratulation. As intimated, there has been a marked increase of direct shipments of Northern staples to the various new dis- tributing centers, like Atlanta, Chattanooga, Selma, Meridian, and other interior cities that have sprung up through railroad influence, and the river cities no longer enjoy that old-time monopoly which the river once gave them. They are now obliged to compete in an open market for whatever trade they may attract, and have only the surviving advant- age of being nearer to the raw staples than Northern cities to depend upon. This fact, however, is being legitimately 45 From Harper's .vtogaziae. copyr ht ISS7, by Harper it Brotbert. INDIAN OLD FIELDS— PIONEER SETTLEMENT. used to draw investments of foreign capital in manufactures to the J^outli, and eventually will more than compensate for the drawbacks of the present condition of trade. KENTUCKY COAL FIELDS. Prof John R. Procter, State Geologist, has furnished a valuable paper on the coal fields of Kentucky to a periodical recosjuized as the leading publication in the world on mining and engineering. It is as follows : Kentucky is the only State in the Union containing parts of each of the two great coal fields, having about ten thousand square miles of the Appalachian coal field in the eastern part, and about four thousand square miles of the Illinois coal field in the western part of the State. WESTERN COAL FIELD. The Western Coal Field is a broad synclinal, having its axis almost parallel with the general direction of Green river, and crossed by gentle undulations running slightly north of east and south of west. The conglomerate sand- stone at the base of the coal measures is not so thick as in Eastern Kentucky. Above this conglomerate twelve work- able coals are present. Some of these coals are of excellent quality, but the percentage of ash and sulphur is greater than in tlie best of Eastern Kentucky coals. A strong coke has been made from at least one of the upper coals, having, however, in the coke from unwashed coal a higher percentage of sulphur than is desirable. Recent experiments lead to the hope that a furnace coke may be made from the first coal above the conglomerate (No. i). This field has now excellent transportation facilities. Green river traverses the entire field from south to north, giving reliable slack-water navigation from Bowling Green to the Ohio river. One railway traverses the center of the field from east to west, and two railways from north to south, and two important new roads are being now completed, and others are projected. There is an abundant supply of cheap iron ores convenient to the coals of Western Kentucky. Associated with the coals of the lower measures, in the counties of Grayson, Edmonson, Butler, and Muhlenburg, are stratified carbon- ites and linionites, ranging from two to five feet and upward in thickness, and persistent over a wide area. Analyses from carefully averaged samples from workable deposits in each of the above-named counties give the following from the unroasted ore : Per Cent. Metallic iron Silica . . . Alumina . . Phosphorus A very pure limestone is convenient to these ores. On the western border of the coal field in the counties of Crittenden, Caldwell, Livingston, Lyon and Trigg are large deposits of limonite in the subcarboniferous limestone. The following are analyses from carefully averaged samples from five outcrops in the above-named counties. Analyses from roasted and unwashed ores : Per Cent. Metallic iron Silica . . . . Lime . . . . Alumina . . Phosphorus . 46. 28 22.33 1.06 0.18 48.86 49.84 11.98 12.10 2.12 2.S7 2.9S 3.01 0.09 0.09 50. 184 16.960 0.095 These are similar to the ores in Alabama and Tennessee, on which the iron industries of Sheffield and Decatur are predicated. Furnaces located near the mouth of the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, in Kentucky, will have the advantage of a large local supply of ores, with the Alabama and Tennessee ores brought down stream in the direction of the markets, and the Iron mountain ores of South-west Virginia and the Green river ores, all delivered by cheap water transportation. In addition to the pure limestone contiguous, there are large deposits of fluor-spar, associated with galena, near the aliove-mentioned ores of Western Kentucky. The peculiar advantages of water and rail transportation, with an abun- dance of coal, iron ores, limestone, and timber for charcoal, should lead to the establishment of furnaces in this region, and also in the valley of Green river. The Western Coal Field has exceptional advantages for supplying the markets of the Lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers with coal. E.\STERN COAL FIELD. Resting upon the south-eastern slope of the great anticline of Central Kentucky, the coal-measure rocks dip gently to the south-east until interrupted by the Great Pine mountain fault, extending from the "breaks" of Big Saudy river to near Jellico, on the Tennessee line. As the hills increase in height, the thickness of the measures and the number of coals increase to the south-east, until we have north of Pine mountain the following coals, counting from the western outcrop upward : Two coals below the conglomerate, one a reliable bed from thirty-si.x to forty-eight inches ; Comb's coal, first coal above conglomerate, twelve to thirty-six inches, not given a number; Sand Lick coal, thirty-six to sixty inches (coal No. i ); Wright's coal, twelve to forty-two inches ; Elkhorn coal (coking seam), forty to one hundred and eight inches (coal No. 3) ; upper splint coal, thirty -six to eighty inches ; Riser's seventy-two-inch coal (Letcher) ; Bear Fork Cannel (Pike); coal with many partings, Ambergy's sixty-inch coal (Knott); Sycamore creek, ninety-two-inch coal (Pike); Flat Woods coal. Pike county ; reported as a thick bed. 46 In the Big and Little Black and Log mountains, iu the synclinal trough between the Pine and Cumberland moun- tains, through the counties of Letcher, Harlan, Bell, and Knox, the above sections are not only present, but additional coals in higher measures. The mountains reach an altitude of 4,000 feet above sea, and the vertical thickness of coal measures is probably greater here than is found at any one place in the United States. Co^-yrigLt, :887, by I Jarpel & Brothers. F'Oir Rarper'c Mr.irnjinB. BIG SYCAMORE TREE ON i:,tn,BEGRUD CREEK. Two claims may be made for the Eastern Kentucky coal field : First, That it contains the largest known area of rich and thick Cannel coals and, second, it contains the largest known area of thick and pure coking coals. Caunel coals of workable thickness are found in si.xteen of the counties of the Eastern Coal Field, and many of these coals are remarkable for richness and purity. The following analyses from averaged samples will show the general good quality of the coals : Volatile combustible matter Fixed carbon Ash Sulphur First 49-130 41.920 7-150 0.802 Second 43.400 46.300 8.300 0.689 Third 44.160 49.400 6.000 0.766 Fourth 66.280 29.730 3.640 0.830 Fifth 53.800 45.000 5-540 0.772 Sixth 50.00 40.14 8. 40 1.65 First : Cannel coal, Johnson county. Second : Cannel coal. Pike county. Third : Cannel coal, Perry county. Fourth and fifth : Canuel coal, Breathitt county. Sixth : Cannel coal, Morgan county. 47 When the projected roads shall penetrate Eastern Kentucky, these Cannel coals will find a market all over the country' for domestic use, and for the manufacturing and enriching of gas. The main coking coal of Eastern Kentucky has been named the Elkhorn coal, from the stream of that name in Pike county, where it was first found and proven to be a coking coal. Since its discoverj- a few years ago, this bed has been identified and traced as a thick coal over an area of more than sixteen hundred square miles, and has been proven by tests to produce an excellent coke over an area of more thau one thousand square miles. It has been traced as a thick bed above drainage through Pike, Letcher, and Harlan counties, and over a large part of Floyd, Knott, Leslie, Perry, and Bell counties. It has also been ideutified as a workable coal in Wolfe, Clay, and Breathitt counties. This coal attains its greatest thickness in Letcher, Pike, and Harlan counties, and in Wise county, Virgiuia, where it has been named by Professor Stevenson, the Imbodeu seam ; but it is thick enough for profitable miuiug, when trans- portation is secured, in all of the counties mentioned above. For over one thousand square miles, it is found as a coking coal, most favorably located for cheap mining. The following analyses, made by the Kentucky Geological Survey from carefull)' averaged samples, show the excellence of this coal over a wide area : ANALYSES OF KENTUCKY COAI,S. COUNTY. Letcher Pike . Pike . Wolfe . Bell . . Bell . . Harlan Harlan ■^ >5 h^ ^ SS':^ H ^ "Sr mbusi ateria ^ 1 34-30 58.10 6.50 0.890 ! 26. So 67.60 3. So 0.967 33-50 60.54 396 0.429 37-50 5570 4-40 0.895 37-90 57-78 3-12 1.030 3S.60 57-.iO 2.70 0.629 36.70 58.K6 2.24 0.277 35-30 58. 24 3-36 1.290 Repeated tests have demonstrated that a superior coke can be made from these coals, and these cokes have been tested for strength and porosity witli most satisfactory results. The following analyses show that the cokes from these coals possess three requisites of a good blast-furnace fuel — high fixed carbon, with low sulphur aud ash : Pike . Pike . Wolfe Bell . Bell . Harlan Harlan ^"^ i. ^ §.^' §. •«: ^ rs -< . S . 7 ■ 94.14 4.66 1.484 95-40 3-50 •517 91.00 4.60 •503 95.80 4.00 1. 718 94.00 5-60 .629 93-10 6.30 -,S46 93.60 6.00 1.06S As vet this coking coal field has not been reached by railways, but roads now in process of construction will pene- trate it within the next twelve months, when a great development may be confidently expected. The following streams head in the area containing this coal and radiate from it in a manner to aflxird easy routes for railwavs to penetrate it from every direction, viz : The Pound, Elkhorn, Beaver, and Shelby forks of the Big Sandy, to the north-east ; the Kentucky river, to the north and north-west ; the Cumberland river, to the south-west ; the north forks of the Powell's river, to the south-west and south, and the Guest river, to the south-east. The central position of this coal, and its nearness to high grade and cheap iron ores add much to its value. It is the nearest coking coal to Cincinnati and Louisville aud the nearest good coking coal to St. Louis. It is as near Chicago as is the Connellsville coking coal, and is nearer to large deposits of Bessemer steel ore than is any other coking coal in this country. THE GROWTH OF COAL MIXING. Concerning the growth of the mining industry in this State, C. J. Norwood, the inspector of mines, says : "Coal mining as an important industrv in this State dates, practically, from 1S70. Prior to that year there was comparatively little coal mined for general commerce. A few considerable mines were in existence, but they have but little effect upon the general market, the larger part of the coal used in the State itself being brought from other fields. By the building of the Chesapeake & Ohio, the Cincinnati Southern, and the Knoxville extension of the Louisville & Nashville system aud the completion of the Chesapeake & Ohio, the industry was given an impetus that has carried it forward with com- parative rapidity. The output of all the mines in the State for 1870 amounted to only 169,120 tons; in 1S80 it had grown to 1,120,000 tons, and in 18S4 the output amounted, in round uimibers, to 1,550,000 tons." 48 During the fiscal year iS86, ending July i, 18S7, the output, according to the report of the Inspector of Mines (who has under his supervision only those employing more than five persons) was as follows : DISTRICTS. Mines. Net tons. Bushels. North-eastern 8 22 41 245,122 633,828 914,277 6,128,059 15,845,100 Western 22,856.929 Total 71 1,793.227 44,830,088 Thus the output in seven years has doubled. Each operator has been requested by the inspector to state his prob- able output from July i, 1887, to January i, 1SS8, and the returns upon this request justify the following estimate of the output for the calendar year 1887 : DISTRICTS. Mutes. Net tons. Bushels. North-eastern 8 25 42 255.161 663,599 1,010,569 6,379,029 16,589,969 25,264,223 Total 75 1,929,329 48,233,221 July I, 1887, there were 4,903 persons engaged in eighty-six mines, coming under the supervision of the inspector. Counting all mines, large and small, there are not less than 6,500 miners employed in Kentucky. But this is merely a beginning of the great developments that will follow during the present decade. THE IRON ORES OF KENTUCKY. The iron resources of Kentucky are extensive and varied. At a few localities a considerable development of them has been attained, but, taking the State as a whole, it has hardly reached a fraction of the possibilities of production. f jom HArper'fl aiaKazioe. Copyrit;ht, Ui:!, by Harper & Brothera. KENTUCKY TROTTERS AND B.\RN. The greater portion of the ore territory of the State is as yet untouched by the pick of the miner, but enough has been done in most of the ore districts to learn the quality and something of the extent of the ores. Geographically, the ore districts of the State may be divided into the Eastern and Western ; geologically, the ores of the most importance may be divided into three classes, as follows : 1. The Clinton ore of the Silurian period. This is the equivalent of the dyestone ore in Tennessee and Virginia. 2. The unstratified limonites of the subcarboniferous limestone. 3. The stratified carbonites and limonites of the coal measures. There are also ores associated %vith the Waverly and Devonian shales in many parts of the State, which have been worked to some extent, but they are of minor importance in comparison with the other varieties of ore. Of the three classes of ore above named, the first.and the third are foitnd in Eastern, and the second and third in Western, Kentucky. It may be said also that the ores of the coal measures are the best developed and of the most importance in Eastern, while the unstratified limonites of the subcarboniferous limestone are of the greatest value in Western, Kentucky. 49 It is also proper to state here that the State has been imperfectly prospected, aud that it is altogether possible, aud, indeed, probable, that the ores of one or another of these varieties will be found to be much more extensive and valuable than at present supposed. EASTERN KENTUCKY. The ore districts of Eastern Kentucky, where the ores have been manufactured, are two, known as the Red river and the Hanging Rock iron regions. The Red river iron region embraces portions of Estill, Lee, Powell, Menifee, aud Bath counties. The ores found in this region are the Clinton ore, and an ore stratified resting upon the subcarboniferous limestone on the base of the coal-bearing shales. It is found both as carbonate or clay limestone, and as limouite or brown hematite. It is this ore which has been most largely worked and upon which the excellent reputation of the iron from this region has been made. The Clinton ore has not been so extensively worked but the principal deposit of it is situated geographically near this region, and may be said to belong to it. The best known deposit of this ore in Kentucky is in Bath county, on the waters of Slate creek, and is known as the Slate Furnace ore bank. It is a stratified deposit of oolitic fossiliferous liraonite, capping several hills in the vicin- ity. It reaches a thickness of fifteen feet at places. The area covered by the ore at this point is somewhat over forty acres, and the total amount of ore about one and a half million tons. The ore bears evidence of having been formerly a hematite, similar to the dyestone ore of the same geological horizon along the great valley from New York to Alabama, but it has lain so long, unprotected by anj-thing except a slight covering of earth, that it has absorbed water, aud been converted into a limonite. The deposit seems to be somewhat local, at least of this thickness, as it grows thin, and finally disappears in this neighborhood. The limestone which bears the ore is, however, present in a narrow vein all around the central part of the State, and it is probable that, when thorough examination is made, other deposits of the ore will be found. The following analyses by Dr. Peter and Mr. Talbutt, of the Kentucky Geological Survey, of a sample of ore from this deposit, shows the composition of the ore : CONSTITUENTS. Per Cent. Iron peroxide 70.060 Alumina 4-540 Lime carbonate 040 Magnesia 021 Phosphoric acid 1.620 Sulphuric acid 031 Silica and insoluble silicates ii-530 Combined water 12.300 100.142 Metallic iron 49-042 Phosphorus 707 Sulphur 012 The dyestone ore, a fossiliferous hematite, extends along the flank and foothills of the Cumberland mountains of Virginia, just across the State line from Kentucky, the crest of the mountain forming the line for about forty miles. It lies in two or three beds, ranging from six inches to three feet or more in thickness, and forms in the aggregate an enormous mass of easily-obtained and cheaply-reduced ore. This ore, although situated in Virginia, is of the greatest importance to Kentucky, as it is destined to be smelted with Kentucky coals, which lie on the opposite side of the mountain, and are the only coals acce.ssible to the ore, as there is no coal to the south of the mountain. This ore, although phosphatic to a certain extent, is easily worked, and yields from forty to fifty per cent, of iron. From this ore, smelted with stone coal, iron will probably be made as cheaply as in an}- region of the countr)-. The great Pine mountain vault, which extends from some distance south of the Kentucky line in Tennessee, in a course about north thirty degrees east through Kentucky to the Chatterawah or Big Sandy river, in man)' places is of suf- ficient uplift to have brought the rocks of the Clinton or d\-estone group above the drainage, and it is probable that on exploration the ore will be found in Kentucky. It has been found at the foot of the Pine mountain, in Tennessee. In Kentucky the place of the ore is usually covered deeply by the talus from the overlying rocks, which probably accounts for its not having been discovered. Should it be found along the foot of Pine mountain, in Kentucky, it will be most favorably sitviated for cheap iron making, as, on the opposite side of the stream which flows at the base of the mountain, there is found excellent coal in great abundance. The limestone ore of the Red river iron region, from which the iron is manufactured which gives to the region its reputation, rests upon the subcarboniferous limestone, and from this association takes its name. It lies in a bed of irregular thickness, ranging from a few inches to three feet or more in thickness, but probably averaging, where found in any quantity, about one foot thick, or a little less. It is occasionally irregular and uncertain in its .distribution, but in general it may be said that it is found in its proper position almost wherever the subcarboniferous limestone is above the drainage, along the edge of the coal measures from the Kentucky to the Ohio river. South of the Kentucky river the ore is known to extend a short distance, as far as it has been explored ; but its limit in this direction is as yet unknown. The Red river region embraces, however, only that portion between the Licking and Kentucky rivers. This region has been little developed, except in a portion of Estill county, where four charcoal furnaces have been in operation. There are many eligible sites for charcoal furnaces in this region, where timber and ore are both in abundance, and aa yet untouched. The development of this region has been retarded by the lack of transportation facilities, as the iron had to be hauled a long distance in wagons to railroad or river. This difficulty is likely to be remedied in the near future by the 50 construction of one or two projected railroads into or along the edge of this region, and we can then look for a largely increased production of the excellent iron from this region. The iron is of great strength, and ranks very high in the markets of the West. It is usually used for car-wheel purposes, as it is of very great strength, and chills well. The following analj-ses show the character of the ore of this region : CONSTITUENTS. NO. I. Per Cent. Iron peroxide 1 66.329 Alumina Lime carbonate Magnesia Phosphoric acid Silica and insoluble silicates .... Combined water Total . . Metallic iron . Phosphorus . 12-532 Trace. •'73 .709 9.720 9.580 99-043 46.440 •309 NO. 2. Per Cent. 63-535 2.798 ■450 1-073 -537 20.480 9.800 9S-673 45-874 ■234 NO. 3. Per Cent. 74.127 3-542 -390 .461 .601 9-580 11.270 NO. 4. Per Cent. 99-971 5i-t .262 65-591 5-762 Trace. .248 -447 16.230 11.060 99-338 45-9H •195 I, from the Richardson Bank, Clear Creek, Bath county ; No. 2, from Logan Ridge, Estill Furnace, Estill No. 3, from Thacker Ridge, near Fitchburg, Estill county ; No. 4, from Horse Ridge, Cottage Furnace, Estill No county county. The above analyses were made by Dr. Peter and J. H. Talbutt, chemists of the Kentucky Geological Survey, from samples selected by the writer. THE H.\NGIXG ROCK REGION. The Kentucky division of the Hanging Rock iron region at present embraces the whole part of Greenup, Carter, Boyd, and Lawrence counties. The ores are stratified carbonates and limonites, occurring in the lower coal measures, THE OLD .-i.I.EX.A.NDER HOUSE. beginning with the ore just described, resting upon the subcarbouiferous limestone, and extending through 600 to 700 feet of the coal measure strata. The ores are mineralogically similar, but differ somewhat in the physical character and circumstances of deposition. They are popularly known as limestone, block, and kidney ores. They usually occur at well-defined geological levels, but do not always form connected beds. They also differ in thickness, ranging from four to eight inches in some of the thinner beds to fourteen feet in one local deposit. This latter is the Lambert ore of Carter county. The most common thickness is from six inches to one foot. There are from ten to twelve ore beds which are more than local in extent in this region. In addition, there are numerous local beds, one or more of which is found at nearly every furnace. This region supports eleven charcoal and two stone coal furuaces. The Hanging Rock iron bears a reputation for excellence for general foundry purposes which is unsurpassed by any iron in the United States. The iron produced is mostly hot-blast charcoal iron, but some of the furnaces are worked with cold-blast for the pro- duction of car-wheel iron. The reputation of the iron of this region is, however, chiefly founded upon its excellence for castings of all sorts. The iron combines in a remarkable degree great strength with fluidity in casting and non- shrinkage on cooling. The stone coal iron of this region is used almost entirely for the manufacture of bar iron and nails. The stone coal iron is made from the ores of this region, mixed with a considerable proportion of ore from other States. The fuel used is the celebrated Ashland or Coalton coal ; it is a dry-burning, non-coking coal, which is used raw in the furnace, and is of such excellent quality that no admixture of coke with it in the furnaces is necessary, as is the case with most of the other non-coking furnace coals of the West. The charcoal iron is manufactured exclusively from the native ores, which yield, as shown by the books at a num- ber of furuaces, for periods ranging from one to four years, an average of between thirty-one and thirty-two per cent, of iron. The ores of the region are known as limestone, block, and kidney ores. These names are due to peculiarities of structure or position, rather than to any essential difference in chemical composition. As a rule, however, the limestone ores are the richest and most uniform in qualitv. The kidney ores are next in value, while the block ores present greater variations in quality than any other, some of them being equal to the best of this region, and some of them so silicious and lean that thev can not be profitalily worked. 51 The following analyses, by Dr. Peter and Mr. Talbutt, of the Kentucky Geological Survey, show the composition of some of the ores of each class in this region : CONSTITUENTS. Iron peroxide Alumina Manganese brown oxide . . Lime carbonate Magnesia Phosphoric acid Sulphuric acid Silica and insoluble silicates Combined water Total . . Metallic iron . Sulphur . . . Phosphorus . NO. I. Per Cent. 67-859 1. 160 .9S0 .120 1-275 -143 NO. 2. NO. 3. Per Cent. Per Cent. 15-560 12.903 47-501 .062 71.680 4-155 .090 -380 .050 .084 .270 12.650 10.800 100.159 50.176 .108 .036 54-530 2.120 1.380 .040 1.823 .908 -336 28.360 10.900 100.397 38.171 .134 .428 NO. 4. Per Cent. 68.928 2.768 .290 .680 .641 .249 .748 15.240 II. 100 100.644 48. 249 .298 .098 NO. 5. 1 NO. 6. Per Cent. Per Cent. 61.344 4.236 750 .208 -795 .041 21.480 11.200 100.054 42.941 .016 .347 66.200 3907 .030 -430 -345 .130 .182 16.530 11.730 99.484 46.340 .072 -057 No. I, lower limestone ore, Kenton Furnace, Greenup county ; No. 2, upper limestone ore, Graham bank, near Willard, Carter county ; No. 3, lower block ore, Kenton Furnace. Greenup county ; No. 4, upper or main block ore. Laurel Furnace, Greenup county ; No. 5, yellow kidney ore, Bueua Vista Furnace, Boyd county ; No. 6, 3ellow kidney- ore. Mount Savage Furnace, Carter county. WESTERN KENTUCKY. The most extensive and best developed ore region of Western Kentucky is called the Cumberland river iron region. It embraces the whole or parts of Trigg, Lyon, Livingston, Crittenden, and Caldwell counties. The ores of this region are limouites, found resting in the clay and chert above the St. Louis or subcarboniferous limestone. They occur in deposits of irregular shape and uncertain extent, but in the aggregate the amount of ore is immense. The ores are dis- tributed with great irregularity throughout this region, but they seem to be found in greatest abundance and quantity where the limestone has been most extensively worn away, and where, as a consequence, the clay and chert, which are the result of its decomposition, are of the greatest thickness. The ores are, perhaps, found in greater abundance in the country between the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers than in any other portion of this region, although there are extensive deposits on the east side of the Cumberland river which have been largely worked. As a rule, however, the deposits decrease in size and frequency in going from the Cumberland river toward the east, and after a few miles' distance from the river is reached they are scattering and small. The ores are of excellent quality, being almost entireh' free from sulphur, and containing but a small amount of phosphorus ; but they are sometimes mixed with chert and sand. The quality in this respect is as variable as the size of the deposits, the ore in the same deposit frequently showing all degrees of admixture with chert, from a chert breccia to a rich, pure ore, with only an occasional lump of chert inclosed. The average yield of iron, from the ore at the furnaces of this region, where it is not very carefully selected previous to roasting, is between thirty and thirty- five per cent. With careful sorting the j-ield can be brought much higher — from forty to fifty per cent. The iron produced from these ores is of a very high grade. There are three active furnaces in this region which use charcoal fuel exclusively for the production of pig-iron. From this iron is manufactured the celebrated Hillman's boiler-plate, of which it is said by the manufacturers that no boiler constructed of this iron has ever exploded. This iron ranks equal or superior to any other boiler-plate manufactured in the United States. It is used largely for steam- boat and locomotive boilers, for which latter purpose it finds an extensive market, even as far as the Pacific Slope. Considerable ore from this region has been shipped to furnaces at a distance, but within the past two years the depressed condition of the iron market has rendered this unprofitable. This region is well situated as regards trans- portation facilities, it being drained by two navigable rivers, the Cumberland and Tennessee, and on the lower border by the Ohio, so that the iron manufactured here can be very cheaply placed in market. The following anal3-ses of two samples of ore from this region are by Dr. Peter and Mr. Talbutt, of the Geological Survey : CONSTITUENTS. Iron peroxide Alumina Manganese Lime carbonate Magnesia Phosphoric acid Sulphur . Silica and insoluble silicates Combined water Total Metallic iron Phosphorus NO. I. Per Cent. 59-370 1.622 .090 .170 .100 .179 .212 30.000 8.400 100.143 41-559 .007 NO. 2. Per Cent. 70.518 .045 .190 .090 Trace. ■ 275 •045 18.910 9-850 99-923 49363 .120 52 This same variety of ore is found, iu greater or less quantity, in many other counties where the St. Louis limestone is the prevailing rock formation, but iu none of them, save those mentioned, has any extensive iron industry been established. In the Cumberland river region there are many furnace sites unoccupied where iron can be cheaply and profitably manufactured. This region is capable of, and destined to, a much greater development than it has yet attained. The charcoal-iron manufacture will always be an important and extensive industry, for over a large part of the regiou the most profitable use that can be made of the laud is the production of timber for charcoal. There is destiued, at no far-distant day, to be a large stone coal or coke iron industry established here, using the ores of this regiou with the coals of the Western Kentucky Coal Field, either raw or coked. The best known of the Western coals at present are too sulphurous for use in iron making, without previous separation from sulphur by washing and coking. It is through the introduction of modem machinery and ovens, by which these operations can be cheaply and thoroughly effected, and a coke fit for iron smelting produced, that the coal and iron ore of Western Kentucky will be most profit- ably and extensively developed. The Louisville, Paducah & South-western Railroad affords direct communication between the coal and ore fields. Already measures are in progress for the erection of extensive coke works on the line of the railroad, which will doubtless prove but the first step in the successful development of a different form and more extensive iron industry than any yet established iu W'estern Kentucky. THE NOLIN RIVER DISTRICT. In Edmonson and Grayson counties, north of Green river, between Nolin river and Bear creek, is an area of considerable size, called the Nolin river district. The ores of this region are stratified carbonites and limonites, found near the base of the coal measures ; the ore of the most value occurs above the conglomerate. It is about four feet thick, and so far as present develop- ment indicates, underlies an area of large extent ; it is almost wholly undevel- oped. A number of years since, a small charcoal fur- nace was established on Nolin river, but it was so far from market, and trans- portation of the iron was so uncertain and expensive that the enterprise soon failed. It ran long enough, however, to establish the fact that an excellent iron could be made from these ores. The following analyses, by Dr. Peter and Mr. Talbutt, show the quality of a sample of this ore from near the head of Beaver Dam creek, iu Edmonson county : CONSTITUENTS. P^'' Cent. Iron peroxide 52.926 Alumina 4-792 Manganese 210 Lime carbonate 180 Magnesia ■ -425 Phosphoric acid 355 Sulphuric acid 143 Silica and insoluble silicates 30-58o Combined water 10.400 From Harper's Magazi VIEW OF K ROY.AL F.^MILV. Total loo.oii Metallic iron 37048 Phosphorus .• 154 Sulphur 057 In addition to the great amount of timber available for charcoal, stone coal in abundance occurs in the same region. This coal is the lowest of the series, and is the most excellent quality, analyses showing it to be far superior to the higher coals of Western Kentucky, which are the ones more generally mined. This region is more accessible than formerly, as it lies within fifteen miles of the Louisville, Paducah & South-west- ern Railroad ; but the lack of transportation facilities directly to it has prevented its development. It is one of the most richly endowed undeveloped iron regions in the State. In many other localities in the Western coal field iron ores have been found, but they have not been thoroughly prospected, and little is shown of their extent. One of the best known localities of this sort is in Muhlenburg county. In this county are found, at Airdrie Furnace, on Green river, and at Buckner Furnace, near Greenville, deposits of so- called black-band iron ore — a ferruginous, bituminous shale, yielding about thirty per cent, of iron. At Airdrie Furnace this ere rests immediately above an excellent coking coal, and the two can be mined together very cheaply. At this place iron can be produced very cheaply by bringing ore from the Cumberland river region and using it in admixture with the native ore. For a more detailed description of this locality, see report in the second vol. ume, new series, " Kentucky Geological Reports on the Airdrie Furnace." The above described localities embrace all the most important iron ore districts of the State. There are numerous ore deposits at other places, some of which have been worked, but in comparison with the others, to a small extent onlj-- OTHER ORES. Lead: In uearU- all of the regions where the St. Louis group is fulh- developed more or less lead has been found. The onl}- mining that has been done for the metal, however, has been in Livingston, Crittenden, and Caldwell counties. In Livingston and Crittenden counties a number of pits and excavations of various sorts have been dug for the purpose of working the deposits. With possibly one exception, however, the work has so far proven unprofitable. In Critten- den countv considerable lead has been found at a point known as the Columbia nunes, leading to the supposition that economically managed they may be wrought at a small profit. So far these lead mines had to contend with the pro- duction from the mines in the Rocky mountains, where a large quantity of this metal has been produced, almost with- out cost, in the reduction of ores for their silver. Should this competition in time be removed, the)- would become more important sources of profit. Zinc: Zinc is frequently found in the form of sulphide (black jack) accompanying the lead. It has never been found in sufficient quantities for working. Fluor-spar: Fluor-spar is found in more or less liberal quantities throughout the lead region. In Crittenden county, northwardly from the Columbia mines, fluor-spar is found in great abundance. Considerable deposits of the massive variety, very white and apparently free from impurities, are found at the Jlemphis mines and vicinity. It is not unlikely that other important deposits may be found. Marl beds: One of the most interesting results of the geological surs-ey was the discovery of potash and soda in some of the marls of the Chester group, in such quantities as to prove them valuable as fertilizers. Attention was first directed to the deposits near Leitchfield, Grayson county, and now they are searched for with interest wherever the Chester group is known to occur. They have been found in Grayson, Edmonson, Breckinridge, Caldwell, Christian, and Livingston counties. Their entire extent is unknown, but it is not improbable that further explorations may prove their existence wherever the Chester group is fully developed. Scarcely too high an estimate can be placed on these marls iu Kentucky, as they constitute a ready and cheaper fertilizer for tobacco lands, the properties of the marl being to renew the vigor of the soil as it is impoverished by the tobacco. The infertility of nmch of the land is largely due, not to original poorness, but to the exhaustion produced by tobacco ; these potash marls are expecte