It will be seen, by

rectly from the Devonian Black Shale. reference to the section on fifth page, that this shale, which is quite thick along the eastern base of the Cumberland Mountain and the western base of the Pine Mountain, is below the drainage in this valley, and the position of the rocks, with the superincumbent weight of the mountains, is most favorable for the production of flowing wells.

"The massive conglomerate on the sides of this valley is a great storage reservoir of water, so that the springs are numerous, never failing, and bold, and the streams afford excellent water-power. The climate of this section and the varied beauties of scenery add much to its attractiveness. Here we have along the two sides of this valley the bold escarpments of conglomerate along some of the clear mountain streams, enriched with a profusion of rhododendrons, kalmias, azalias, cucumber magnolias, holly, &c. The central valleys, broad and fertile, are surrounded with gently sloping hills and mountains, covered with a grandeur of forest nowhere surpassed. There is no more grand or beautiful scenery elsewhere in the Alleghenies than in this valley. The mountains of the Big Black are probably the culmination of this entire range, as are the North Carolina Mountains opposite the culmination of the entire Appalachian range. It will be observed that around these Black Mountains, on the line between Kentucky and Virginia, head the Sandy, the Kentucky, the Cumberland, the Powell, and the Guest's rivers. The genial summer climate is due to the high elevation of this entire region above the sea level.

"The summer rain-fall is greater than elsewhere in the Ohio valley. This combination of advantages--healthfulness of climate, good soil, valuable timbers, abundance of coal and iron of excellent quality, so situated as to be cheaply mined, and the certainty of transportation facilities in the near future— certainly renders this country peculiarly adapted to persons seeking new homes. Lands can be purchased in large tracts at a low price, and the writer will take pleasure in giving additional information to persons desiring to investigate the resources of the valley of the North Cumberland."

A railroad penetrating such a region can not but result in a vast and rapid development of its resources.

Elizabethtown and Hodgenville Railroad.

A road of standard gauge has been surveyed and put under contract from Elizabethtown to Hodgenville, the county seat of Larue county, a distance of twelve miles, which will soon be completed, and will be an important feeder to the Louis

ville and Nashville, and Chesapeake, Ohio and South-western roads.

Chesapeake and Nashville Road.

A road has been projected from Nashville to intersect the Chesapeake and Ohio system in Kentucky. This road is known as the Chesapeake and Nashville Railroad. Work has been commenced on this road at Gallatin, Tennessee, and it has been built on the old road-bed, intended originally for the Cumberland and Ohio Railroad, from that point to Scottsville, in Allen county, Ky. From Scottsville work is progressing in the direction of Glasgow, to which point it is believed the road will be completed in the near future. From Glasgow the route is not fully determined-one proposition is to make Cecilia, on the Chesapeake, Ohio and South-western, its terminus; another is to go to Hodgenville, in Larue county, where it will connect with the new Elizabethtown and Hodgenville road, and by that road connect with the Louisville and Nashville and the Chesapeake, Ohio and South-western at Elizabethtown. The adoption of either of these routes will result in great benefit to the country along the line; and, what is of far greater general interest, will open up another through road from Louisville to Nashville. Another proposition is to connect with the Chesapeake and Ohio system, either at Stanford or Lexington. This would give a direct road from Cincinnati to Nashville through some of the best counties in Kentucky.

The Covington, Maysville and Big Sandy Railroad.

The Newport News and Mississippi Valley Railway (better known, perhaps, in Kentucky as the Chesapeake and Ohio road), traversing the State from East to West, is rapidly extending and strengthening its system by the construction of branch roads, the encouragement of friendly enterprises, and the absorption of roads already in operation.

Its largest and most important venture in this direction is the construction of a new road from Ashland, in Boyd county, to Covington. In the fall of 1886 ground was broken simultaneously at several points on the road, and since then the

work has been pushed with that nervous, but intelligent energy which characterizes all the undertakings of its admirable management. As many as four thousand hands were at one time employed on the work, and an ample force is kept constantly engaged. By the first of August next it is expected that this entire road of one hundred and forty miles will be completed and in operation.

Leaving the Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy road at Ashland, this road runs down the Ohio river to Greenup Court-house, crossing the Eastern Kentucky Railroad at Riverton, one mile above; thence down the river to Springville, opposite Portsmouth, Ohio, a city of 20,000 inhabitants, and the terminus of two or three northern railroads; thence, still down the river, to Quincy, in Lewis county, and on to Rockport on the river. From this point it runs to Vanceburg, the county site of Lewis county, a flourishing town of 1,200 or 1,500 inhabitants, having several thriving barrel and other manufactories, and quarries of superior building stone. From here it runs to Springdale on the river, and thence to Maysville, a city of 12,000 or 15,000 inhabitants, the county site of the rich and prosperous county of Mason, and one of the most beautiful and thriving places in the State. The next point is Dover on the river; thence to Augusta, in Bracken county; thence to California, and thence back of Newport to Covington, and crossing the Ohio river into Cincinnati over a new steel bridge which is being rapidly constructed by the Newport News and Mississippi Valley Railway Company. At Covington the road will connect with the Kentucky Central and Louisville and Nashville and Cincinnati Southern roads; and in Cincinnati with the northern department of the Huntington system, as well as the numerous other roads centering in that city.

The country traversed by this road is one of great fertility of soil, rich in timber, building stones, and agricultural productions, dotted with thriving towns, and inhabited by an industrious and a prosperous people.

The completion of this road will quicken their energies, and stimulate them to new enterprises, whilst the proximity of the

Ohio river to the road will doubtless insure them the most favorable rates of freight possible for any people to obtain.

The Mammoth Cave Railroad.

This road runs from the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, at a point in Edmonson county, to America's great wonder, the Mammoth Cave. It has long been desired by parties visiting this freak of nature. There are no stations along the line, and it was built merely for the transportation of visitors to the cave. The length is eight and a half miles, all of which was built during the year 1886. The road was formally opened to the public on the 17th day of November last, and has since been purchased by the Louisville and Nashville Company. Mr. John F. Wheeless, of Nashville, is President and General Manager.

Louisville Southern Railroad.

It is claimed by the friends of the Louisville Southern road that the necessity for its construction grew out of the complaints of the Louisville shippers that they were not afforded equal facilities and as favorable terms for their shipments to the south as were accorded to the rival cities of Cincinnati and St. Louis.

To what extent this assertion is founded on fact it is unnecessary for the Commissioners to determine. Suffice it to say, that the Louisville Southern road has assumed shape and is now in progress of construction.

Its objective point is some place-probably Harrodsburg-on or connected with the Cincinnati Southern road. This connection will secure to Louisville another southern outlet, and will greatly enlarge her field of traffic, while it will afford the usual facilities of trade and travel to the localities through which it will pass. There is an effort on foot to get a branch of this road by way of Lawrenceburg to Lexington, which, if successful, would give a shorter route by eighteen or twenty miles from Lexington to Louisville than that of the Louisville and Nashville road.

The distance from Louisville to Harrodsburg is seventy-five miles, and the route of the road between these points is

through a region of fertility, improvement and wealth unsurpassed in the State.

The Louisville Southern management is understood to be on very friendly terms with the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago road, and it is highly probable that this last-named road will be connected by the Kentucky and Indiana bridge and the Louisville Southern with the Queen and Crescent system. This combination would be at once powerful and useful -affording another through route from the lakes to the gulf.

Projected Roads.

In nothing has the Legislature of Kentucky been more liberal, not to say prodigal, than in the granting of railroad charters. Prior to the last session of the General Assembly, about one hundred and seventy such charters had been granted. Perhaps thirty or forty of these corporations have from time to time attempted to put on foot the enterprises authorized by the acts. Different degrees of success have attended their efforts. Some of the roads have been built, some commenced, some consolidated with or sold out to others, and many of the attempts have ended in disastrous failure. But by far the greater number of the charters remain untouched, serving only to encumber the statute books, and in some instances being used as a menace and hinderance to the success of other and bona fide enterprises. The Commissioners deem it their duty to call the attention of the Legislature and the public to these barnacles on the body-politic, and to recommend an enactment repealing all railroad charters under which work shall not have been in good faith commenced within a reasonable time after the passage of the act.

The following named companies are now endeavoring to build roads in the State: The Louisville, St. Louis and Texas Railroad, starting at Louisville and running down the Ohio river by way of Stephensport, Cloverport and Owensboro to Henderson.

If built, this road will, with the new South-side road from Ashland to Covington, and the L. and C. Short-line, make a continuous river railroad near four hundred miles in length. At Henderson it would connect with the Louisville and Nash