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Apple ton (Wis.) Crescent.
Resources and Advantages of
Bartow County, Ga.
Friend B: —In my description of
this part of Georgia, I shall be more
particular as regards this county, (Bar
tow) but at the same time shall point
out some of the natural resources that
are to be found in many of the counties
situated in North Georgia.
Turn to your map and you will see
that Bartow county is situated in the
northwestern part of the state, just
above the 34th parallel of latitude,
and this county has advantages pecu
liarly its own. It contains an area of
500 square miles, or about 320,000
acres, and rests upon a solid founda
tion of limestone, sandstone and iron
ore. There are 91,325 acres of im
proved land, the remaining 228,675
acres being covered with very choice
timber, and a large portion ol it teem
ing with valuable minerals, of numer
ous kinds.
The character of the soil is varied
as to the surface, but almost always
the subsoil is red or yellow clay.
The red or gray ridge lands, the mu
latto upland, the deep alluvial soil of
her creek and river bottoms, are alike
productive and generous, and respond
as readily to the skill and care of the
cultivator as any lands in the state of
Georgia. Cotton, corn, tobacco, all
the cultivated grasses, wheat, oats, bar
ley, rye, potatoes, both sweet and
Irish, all products of the temperate
zone, except some varieties of the cit
ron family, find in this county a soil
and climate congenial and invigorat
ing, and they reach as great perfection
here as anywhere in the state.
Bartow county is peculiarly adapted
to the growth of all grasses. Clover
finds in the red soil of the county a
home where it reaches perfection.
From two to four tons to the acre is
easily produced and the clover becomes
practically indigenous.
• Running streams of purest water
rush from hills and permeate the val
leys in all directions. Springs of
both limestone and freestone abound
and where springs are not, water is
readily obtained, at depths ranging
from 20 to 30 feet.
The Etowah river runs through the
county from northeast to souihwest,
and affords unlimited water-power at
numerous shoals and rapids. Also
creeks, such as Euharlee, Pumpkin -
vine, Allatoona and Two-Run, in
many places would be dignified with
the name of river. Grist mills are in
sufficient abundance to meet the needs
of the present population and several
large merchant mills supply the
wants of outsiders.
Fine mineral springs in several
portions of the county, such as
chalybeate, sulphur and alum, gush
forth from the mountains and offer
health and strength to the invalid.
One writer says Bartow county is
the garden spot of the south, it is the
best of the twenty-one counties com
prising what is known as Cherokee
Georgia, or that portion of the state
lying northwest of the Chattahoochee
river. For healthfulness it cannot be
excelled. Protected on both sides by
mountain ranges from the extremes
of cold, its altitude of about 1,000 feet
above the sea insures cooling breezes
and pleasant nights during the sum
mer. The average death rate is about
28 in 10,000 from pulmonary diseases, ‘
taking all Cherokee Georgia as an ex
ample.
The climate is mild. In winter for
the months of December, January
and Febuary the mean temperature is
44.9 deg.; for June, July and Au
gust,* 78 deg.; for the year 61.9 deg.
The above figures are compiled from ob-
servations made for ten years under
the direction of the Commissioner of
Agriculture and are no doubt correct
and reliable averages.
Local or epidemic diseases are un
known, and the death rate is as low as
in any country in the world.
Before closing this letter 1 will give
you a partial description of this pretty
little town of Cartersville, Bartow
county. Situated on a series of gentle
elevations, the town is well laid oft,
thoroughly drained, well built, with
many nice residences, its streets shad
ed, its many gardens prolific and beau
tiful to the eye. Forty-eight miles
from the city of Atlanta and ninety
miles from Chattanooga. It is the coun
ty seat of Bartow, with a pop
ulation of some 2,800, situated at the
junction of the W. & A. Railroad,
with E. & W. Railroad of Alabama,
the latter road giving a through line
to the great manufacturing town of
Birmingham, and its adjacent coal
fields, distant 150 miles. When the
contemplated extension of the E. &
W. railroad to Gainesville, on the
Richmond and Danville system, is
finished, this garden spot of Bartow
county will have three competing lines
to the north and east, and the shortest
route from New York to New Orleans
will be over the E. & W. through
Cartersville.
A tempting field for the manufacturer,
Cartersville offers every inducement
to proposed plants, with boundless
iron and manganese ore, coke near at
hand, charcoal cheap and plentiful,
timber of almost every variety, espec
ially the hard woods, fine land and
taxes cheap, a population anxious
to welcome new comers and new en
terprises,, no city debts and by popu
lar vote prohibition rules the county.
The day cannot be far distant when
this city will be a very hive of indus
try. The surrounding country is
beautiful, with many pleasant drives.
Good farms, well watered, well tim
bered, with comfortable improve
ments, can be bought at prices rang
ing from $6 to S3O per acre, depending
largely upon nearness to railroads.
Speaking of Pine Mountain, that is
on the eastern side of the county, in the
Allatoona range and it reaches an
altitude of some 2,340 feet above the
level of the sea. In this range of
mountains and the foothills adjoining
them are found the chief mineral depos
its of the county of which I will speak
more fully in my next letter; also
shall suggest to you some of the ad
vantages this country enjoys over
your northern country, where the
winters are six months long or more,
snow from 2 to 4 feet deep, thermome
ter 20° to 40° below zero and coal $9
per ton, &c. In my next will speak
of our many minerals, fine stock, &c.
&c. Yours Truly, S—.
And here is another letter from S—
on the resources of Bartow county:
Friend Bln my last I said I
would show to you some of the advant
ages this country has over your north
ern country. Take for instance the
farmer. Here he can grow everything
that you can at the north, and in ad
dition to that many things that cannot
be cultivated in your section and re
ceive just as good a price for them, and
grown on a farm that cost $6 to $lO
per acre; and the farmer here has ten
months in the year to farm in while
in the north time is “short between
the frosts,” can’t lose a day, crops
must be in the ground the day after
the frost is out or they will be caught
in a freeze-up early in the fall or late
in the summer.
Then, the mechanic here can work
right along for twelve months, no lay-
THTE KENNESAW GAZETTE.
ing still three to five months for cold
winter, as I have understood that in
your country carpenters and masons
take their vacation say from December
to April, and a very cold vacation,
too, they sometimes have.
FINE STOCK.
Fine stock are bred to advantage
and find a ready market. Our short,
mild winters render it unnecessary
to stable except on very rare occasions,
a shed near the barn for a shelter is all
the protection needed from January
to March ; after that they will take
care of themselves. How does that com
pare with your taking care of stock in
the north ? Within the past few years
stock growing has received a strong
impetus and this county now boasts of
a large number of fine horses and
mules that would do no discredit to
Kentucky.
Horned cattle are a very profitable
source of revenue to our farmers as
they are disposed of at remunerative
prices, and the vast tracts of unfenced
woodland with which the county
abounds offers excellent pasturage for
twenty times the number that graze
them from March to December. All
the fine breeds of cattle do well and
nearly all have representatives in the
farm yards of the county. The Jer
sey especially seems to have been most
successfully bred.
MINERALS.
Unlike many sections of rich farm
ing lands Bartow county is also rich
in mineral wealth. Alongside of val
leys of fertile farming lands are found
parallel ridges full to overflowing with
rich ores.
These ridges contain mineral ele
ments necessary to a comm unity’s pros
perity, except coal. In the past that
want has been met by recourse to the
vast forests of timber and a high grade
of charcoal iron was the result. Re
cently this difficulty has been remov
ed by railroad connection with the
coal fields of Alabama. The brown
hematite ores of this county are well
known and thoroughly appreciated in
the furnaces of Chattanooga and Bir
mingham to which points large quan
tities are shipped.
Bartow county is one of the ten
counties composing what is known as
the limestone region of northwest
Georgia. Take the eastern side of
Bartow county and a traveler need
never be out of sight of indications of
iron ore. The limestone or brown
iron ores are those principally found
here and the beds or deposits in which
they occur are of enormous and un
known extent. Many of them never
have known the sound of pick or drill.
More particularly is this true in the
northeast part of the county where
Pine Mountain rears its 2,300 feet
altitude.
MANGANESE,
Next in importance to iron, is found
in large quantities and the quality is
excellent and a large amount is ship
ped annually. The great steel works
of Pennsylvania draw a large part of
their supply from this quarter. Sta
tistics place the Bartow mines third on
the list of the United States mines for
quality. The lands where these ores
are found have not yet been absorbed
by great syndicates of speculators but
are held by numerous owners who
would be glad to see their property
and the resources of the county devel
oped. Manganese is worth about $6
per ton at the railroad. Cartersville
is the principal shipping point.
PRECIOUS METALS, AC.
Silver ore is found in considerable
quantities on the eastern side of the
county, also graphite of good quality
is found in this county, and I have
just learned that graphite or black
lead ore more than two hundred feet
thick has been discovered near Gaines
ville, Hall county, this state, which is
the largest deposit east of the Rocky
mountains.
Ochre is frequently found in connec
tion with the brown iron ore, and large
quantities are known to be in the
county; at present but one mine is be
ing worked and that producing a high
grade. Baryta is plentiful and in its
purest form white as snow and free
from silica. Lead is found in small
quantities at different localities.
Handsome specimens of gold-bear
ing quartz are frequently found, and
some were in the Bartow county
exhibit at Atlanta. But as this is get
ting quite lengthy must close by prom
ising to tell you in my next something
more about northern Georgia.
Will have something to say about
our fruits. Say, did you ever see a
grape vine ten inches in diameter in
your northern forests? If any one
doubts any of my statements in regard
to the wealth and resources of this
garden spot of Georgia write to G. H.
Aubrey & Co., of Cartersville, and
you will see that much more could be
said of this section and then not half
be told. Truly Yours, S—.
Speaking of the circular recently
issued by the railroad commissioners
on the subject of reduced passenger
fare, the Albany Neivs and Advertiser
truthfully remarks:
“This circular was perhaps inspired
by the action of the Western & Atlan
tic in the recent voluntary reduction
of its passenger rates.”
Thus it will be seen that the West
ern & Atlantic Railroad authorities
have done a favor to the traveling
public, such as is seldom granted by
any corporation, and a favor which is
being multiplied in the advantages it
gives.— Atlanta Evening Capitol.
White sand of a magnificent quality
has been discovered in Bartow county
above Cartersville. It is being ship
ped extensively to the glass works,
Aftei’ Three Years.
W. F. Walton, of Springfield,
Tenn., says: “I have been suffering
with Neuralgia in my face and head
ass and on for three years. I purchased
a box of Dr. Tanner’s Infallible Neural
gia Cure and took eight of the pills.
I have not felt any symptoms of Neu
ralgia since. It gives me pleasure to
recommend it. Sold by all druggists.
The railroad commission of Georgia
was something late with its budget of
lower fares. The roads had all practi
cally made the reduction before the
commission ordered it done.—Chattan
ooga Tinies.
The W. & A. R. R. is the best,
quickest, shortest, most pleasant line
from Atlanta to Chattanooga.—South
ern Farmer, Athens, Ga.
The entire region, from Marietta to
Acworth, along the reliable and ac
commodating Kennesaw route, is on
a permanent rise, and many are feel
ing the new life and hope it infuses and
are discussing various enterprises need
ed, and which will pay to inaugurate.
—Marietta Journal
Did You Ever?
W. H. Revels, M. D., of Baltimore,
Md., says: “I have been in the
practice of medicine for over eighteen
years, but never have I seen the
equal of Hodges’ Sarsaparilla. It has
worked miracles here in curing Rheu
matism and Scrofula. Have almost
come to the conclusion that I cannot
practice without it,” Sold by all
druggists,