The herald and news. (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, September 27, 1907, Page SIX, Image 6
ROMANCE OF A FIRE.
Tradition Has it That Rejected Lover
Set Coal Mino on Firo.
Dispatch to Baltimore Sun.
On Point Creek, about twenty miles
.above this city, near the station at
Standard, a coal-mine lire is raging
?a fire about tho origin of which an
interesting romanc is woven. At night
tho mountainside in which tho mino
is located ie ablaze with a wicrd play
of light: by day a column of smoke
ascends like a monument. In truth,
the mountain is afire, an unquenchable
lire, as those who have already
lost $20,000 in a vain attempt to
smother it will testify.
In the late .~>0\s of the last, century
She Kanawha Coal and Oil Company
was organized for the purpose of
producing oil from the canncl soal
found Sn the mountains divided by
Paint Creek. Then vein located was
a comparatively thin one, lying in the
.heart of a thick seam of the hitumin
ins coal. The company was busy with
is operations when the civil war
'firokc out, but continued at work for
vouie time thereafter.
The superintendent was a blunt old
rtfiiglishman named Cordon, who had
5.. !v.andsomc daughter, Wowona, who
vrras the delight of her father's heart
rind the despair of the young men of
' he neighborhood. There was the
imkiI courtimr and flirtimr, with the.
usu:il final selection of one man and
he inevitable preparations for the
wvddimr. The lucky man was one
Adkiii a native of the mountains a
strapping young fellow, who had won
*ihe father's favor iis a workman even
before he won the daughter's esteem
as a lover. Thus I hi' course of true
Jove seemed tu run smooth.
Hut the war came and the Paint
4'Veck section was as badly torn bv
'opposing factions as any other small
part of the entire country. The na
lives were of the south, while most of
those who had come to work in tho
mines were Union men. Of I lie latter
was old man Cordon while Adkius
was a regular lire-eating son of Dixie.
After several stormy interviews
Adl dns was forbidden to enter tho
Cordon home and liowena was ordered
not to see him. lie enlisted in
"the Confederate army and marehod
out with Wise on his famous retreat
vap the valley. This was in the spring
of 18(51. In the autumn ho returned
home on a furlough and sought to
irenow amicable relations with tho
^Gordons, but was repulsed by both
f'father and daughter. Tt is said that
"Sir. spirit of revenge he set. tire to
"tire, drum house at the mouth of the
'iniue. The (ire was communicated
"to jiie rich vein of canncl coal inside,
:tarid, obtaining a good hold, has been
hbiiniing ever since.
'Adkius returned to his regiment
-and was killed in battle. The Cordons
left the country soon after, and
iheir subsequent history is not known
here.
That is the romantic version. The
prosaic one is that fire was communicated
to 1 ho mine by a forest tire
ihai raged furiously in October, 1 S01.
Certain it thai the mine lieiian to
burn at that time and lias been burning
ever since.
In the late 'SO "s :i company was
v'ormed by Charleston men to extinguish
the tire and reopen the mine,
but after spending .f'JO.OOl) in a vain
attempt the enterprise was abandoned.
It is prohuhle that the lire will
?>e allowed to burn until the entire
'vein of coal is consumed.
Often, for years ;it a time, the fire
cannot be seen, but there is always
something about the locality to bear
witness to its presence. Sometimes it
Ss smoke, sometimes it is steam. In
wet weather there is always a vapor |
'.rising from above the mine. In winter
snow melts as rapidly as it falls
on the particular spot, while tho
ground around is w'aite. In the spring
vegetation appears earlier where the
h is wann from this un.'. 'riving
.neat. Of late it has been I * 11 i 11 tr
visibly at night, the extent being
perhaps a hundred yards along the
f.tee of !ii( mounia''GOLD
IN VAST SUPPLY.
'The lime has come when gold is an
"KTiiele of manufacture, writes F. U..
Adams in Success Magazine. Titer?
arc practically exhanstless tracts of
rock and soil in which gold is being
produced in enormous quantities with
absolute elimination of risk. I shall
"briefly consider two typical instances
' of "gold manufacture," either one
of which is snfTcient to doom gold as
1 medium of exchange.
In 1884 fhe discovery of the greatest
deposits of go hi in all history was
made known. This was in the Witwatersrand
district of the Transvaal of
South Africa. Compared with it the
tfamous Comstock mines were nothing.
Not until recent years has it
i>een possible to go ahead with the
1 4\
cxlraclion of (he billions in gold
which arc scattered through "the
rocks and soil of (he Witwatersrand. j
It required new processes, but science
a nil invention supplied them, llero is
a gold-bearing reel', 40 miles in
length, 20 miles in width and in which
borings tG a depth of y,500 feet show
gold in undiminished quantities! How
much gold is (here in (he Witwatersrand
7 Hundreds, probably thousands
ot billions of dollars of it!
i he Witwatersrand conglomerate
carries only the insignificant amount
of ten pennyweight of gold (o the
ton, but it runs uniform, therefore it
is only a question of machinery and
labor lo determine (lie yield. Money
supplies (he machinery and China
(he labor. The annual production of
the I ransvaal gold factories now oxcecils
$1 MO,000,(100 and (lie record is
1 broken every month. If lnbor can be
hail, there is no reason why the output
should ttu( reach half a billion a \
year, and (he rock can be worked
for centuries without making a serious
impression on its vast extent.
N'<?l many years ago it was discovered
that all ol the soil in the .Sacramento
and San Joaquin valleys was
filled with gold. We will consider
what is being done in the Sacramento.
Kor hundreds ?f miles I his river
"ins through a broad valley of a
width varying from twenty to more'
limn one hundred miles. When it became
known that gold was scattered
through the soil this 20,000 square
miles of valley, capital called on
science and invention for assistance.
I he distant mountains were made lo
lurnish water power for electricity.
I hen there was built a floating goid
factory at a cost of $250,000. It
took a position near a bank of the river,
and with its dredging appliances
began to eat its way into the soil. The
mud and dirt were carried over the
huge scow, the gold extracted, the
tailings were dumped in the rear.
1 bus was witnessed the strange sight
of a factory crawling slowly overland
toward the distant foothills. It rested
in a canal of its own making; i(
was run will, electrical power ?enerJited
by a mountain brook; it worked
twenty-four hours a day with three
shifts of men; the amount of gold
extracted was as uniform as tho
thrust of its motors; its mine was an
ocean of mud; there was no more romance
about its operation than there
is about a briekiln, and yet that ,
$2,'>0,000 gold factory made a net protit
of ^00,000 the first year.
*
e
J Hrxvo \JfEJ
sorr>e /v?
J coFfee?M%
?*. ?> O.NM> ??-W
Newberry , S . C. ,
Dear Fr i end:
? I am getting
! drink tea find cc
I? Are you?
^ Papa and Main;
coffee just for
g they get such g<
^ that they drink
^ ci day. They saj/
^ in town is Blanl
Your
*
J P. S. It's
alway.s forgot tl
^ Blanke's cof fee
^ and 3 5 cts, a p<
q JONES'
+ Fant
- ?
THEO. LAMBRAY'S [
Ladies' & Gents'
Ice Cream Parlors
We make and deliver on
order the
FINEST ICE CREAM
on earth. Every variety. >
Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry,
Peach, Pineapple.
Rich, Pure, Refreshing.
FlnestQuality Flavorings,Richest
Pure Cream, Freshest
Fruits, skillfully put together
in spotless surroundings. Phy- S
sicians recommend 1ce Cream
for the young, the weak and t,
the old. So that Ice Cream
like ours should win us medals n
big and bright daily. Try our
superlative ICE CREAM today.
ii
Phone and have some de- a
livered to your home ^
e o
Positively the only big show p
coming to Newberry this year
Tuesday, Oct. 1st.
The highost class exhibition in the world t<
GfintfjIMows;
Twice Daily-2 and 8 P. M. i
ti
More educated animals than all other c
shows combined. 50 new acts by 5oo
perfectly trained Four-footed Fun-fur- S
uishers.
SIOE
The Marvelous Juggling Norman*.
The Wonderful Flying Zeraldas. Q
Positively the greatest Feature Acts ever C
seen beneath a canvas. Y
BEAUTIFUL ALL NEW C
STREET PARADE -Don't Miss It
Leaves exhibition grounds 10:30 a. in. ^
One ticket admits to everything. Doors
open for inspection of Menagerie at 1 and r
7 p. in.
5
/ I
Jfh J
j I ^->^\/ w
Sept. 20, 1907. J
big enough to
d f fee . <?>
b\ used to drink ^
breakfast, but ^
Dod co f foe now ,
4. w
it, thr ee times
r the bes t co f fee
ce's co ffee.
friend, ^
Jacob. ?
/
funny that I <
lat you can get ?
for 20, 25, 30 ^
ound at J 1
GROCERY. J
.'s Old Stand, ^
9
} . t
ASK yourself the QUESTION:
Which Company offers the greateat security?
Which Company will pay the largest dividends?
Which Company issues the most complete policy?
59.3 per ct. cash dividend pai
It PAYS the LARGEST DIVIDENDS
$50;000,000 is part of the
The Pacific
More than is offered kv
%
It v/rote last year (paid for business) over
>tate), being nearly as much as any other three
It was organized 40 years ago on "Old Lin<
han 40 States and Territories. It has over K
ess in force
The stockholders, who are well known, an<
50,000,000 are personally liable in an u
igs, for all the debts'of the Company; extra se
nd offered only by the Pacific Mutual Life Insi
Jnder these same laws the directors of the com
fficers. Funds must be invested in non-spe
any funds aie under bonds.
The Greatest Combination ot Stror
The Pacific Mutual Life has the best legal
ses of any American Life Company. It is a m
las many advantages not enjoyed by the Easter
lies. It has a surplus to policy-holders of near
olders over $20,U00,000. It is governed by s
eposited with California State Treasurer $1,20(
he Cash Capital, One Million Dollars, Fully
on of policyholders. The Complete Combinati
>ickness, Accident, Old Age and Death; they er
trictly up-to-date.
ONE CONTRACT, ONE PRE
Life Disability, Accident, and Disease Insu
ase cost annually only $3 per $ 1,000. Life pr
osts policyholders absolutely nothing. Should
/hy, you cease paying premiums and receive ai
ash for ten years.
$ 10,000 COMBIIS
Veekly Income (52 weeks) in case of accident
" " " sic
^yable in case of insured's permanent and tots
" death'
PROTECT YOURSELF in order th
Call to see us. p
Office over Old Postoffice, Newberry, S. C.
Liberal contracts to agents.
If you aesire to buy insurance, let us hear 1
| Security For Yi
of every kind, and for your fields of growing crops, Is v
when you buy fence. A fence that a bull can break tl
5S for. You want weight in the fencc you buy, weight en
wagon. ^ Now, it is a fact?and you should know it
| wiro that is given in any fence, in the celebrated
AMERICA
! ?n PurP?so to the heaviest, most durable
S solely n larger quantities than any other two fences in th
! .?;n . ,10 "!.ftk?ra of AWIERiCAN l-ENCE own and ope
mills and six immense fence factories. Their product ic
J STANDARD Of
c. can show you this fence in our stock and explain
g the held. Come and see us and get our prices.
We have just received ;
a.nd Will be pleased to qi
Also a fine line of Gun
received. Fresh supply <
Newberry Hi
i
THE PACIFIC MUTUAL
enjoys the advantages of
1. A low rate of mortality.
2. Maximum interest earnings.
3. Minimum expense rate.
don policies maturing 1906.
paid by any company.
eWa protection offered by
Mutual Life, 1
/ any other company.
6,000,000 of business in California (its home
companies wrote.
3 Basis." It is now doing business in more 1
3,000,000 Assets, over 100,000,000 of busi- J
d conservatively estimated to be worth over
inlimited aegree, according to their stockhold- J
>curity required only by the Ca ifornia Laws, 1
irance Company of Los Angeles, California. |
pany are liable for the wrongful acts of the
cu I ative securities. Officers handling Com- 1
ig Insurance Feature Ever Devised. J
organization, and gives the greatest guaranedium
sized Western Company and as such |
n "giants nor by the smaller young compa- |
Iy $2,000,000. It has paid account policytringent
Insurance Laws of California. It has
3,000 for special protectio n to policyholders.
Paid, is special legal surplus for the protecon
Policies protect for one premium against J
nbody "all modern improvements" and are J
:MIUM, FOUR BENEFITS. J
ranee all in one Contract. Accident and Dis- 9
emium rates are low. Disability Insurance
you become totally and permanently disabled, fl
nnually one-tenth of the face of the policy in fl
IATION POLICY. j|
kness- * 50? L
il disability v .... 10,000 jj
10,000 (l
at you may PROTECT OTHERS.
tOBERT NORRIS, |
Gen. Agt. for South Carolina. I
l
rom you. ,
aur Live Stock| 1
'lint you want, and what you have a right to expect
trough or break down is not worth paying good money H
ough to turn the heaviest Pcrcheron or stop a "devil B
?that, per running rod, you obtain the most weight in M ?j
N FENCE :j
and lasting of any fence at any price. It Is tnado and | (J
e world, solely on its merits. Si - \*
rate their own iron mines and furnaces, their own wiro R? /|
? the acknowledged ggj 'I
" THE WORLD I /
i its mcrit8 and superiority, not only in the roll but in gj i'a
car load of this fence, II
jote you prices. J
s and Ammunition justi|
of Loaded Shells.
irdwure Oo. |