Wise County lies directly upon the route that Daniel Boone and his brother traversed upon the second trip they made to Kentucky before he attempted the trip in 1772 and was driven back by the Indians, spending the winter at Fort Blackmore in what is now Scott County.

The Indian attacks and inroads continued until later in the century, one of the most persistent being the band headed by Benge, a half breed, who made an incursion as late as 1792 and in addition to several murders upon the North Fork of Holston River, captured Mrs. Livingston and was taking her with him en route to Ohio when one of the frontiersmen- Mr. Hobbs -ran upon his trail and laid in wait at Benge's Gap on the side of High Knob, above what is now Norton, and killed Benge and several of his men. Benge ran several hundred feet down a branch before falling dead and was laid upon a rock, since when Benge's Gap, Benge's Branch and Benge's Rock have been noted places to visit.

At the time Mrs. Livingston was captured the Indians tomahawked and scalped one of her small boys and threw him in the bushes for dead, but the blow was not fatal and he recovered and afterwards wore a red skull cap to hide his wound. To show how these events have been connected back by the living, the writer states that in 1868 and '69 he frequently met this Livingston boy grown to be an old man, but still vigorous and able to travel around.

The County was formed from the Counties of Lee, Scott and Russell and organized in 1856. It was named for General Henry A. Wise who was then Governor of Virginia. At that time not over three percent of the land was cleared and in cultivation, and was very sparsely settled by people whose chief source of income was from growing cattle, hogs, and hunting, selling the furs and pelts, and digging ginseng. Little value was attached to the magnificent timber and bituminous coal which abounded on all sides and millions of feet of fine timber was cut and burned in clearing land. Whilst the existence of the coal had been known for more than one hundred years, having been referred to in Jefferson's notes on Virginia in 1782, and by Rogers, the celebrated geologist later- the long distance from transportation facilities caused the owners of the land to place little or no value upon it, and its very existence in this section seemed to haw been forgotten except amongst the people here. The county made slow progress in agriculture for the first twenty-five years of its existence, and it was not until 1880 that any attempt was made to sell or exploit its minerals.

At a club dinner in Pittsburg in December 1879, General John D. Imboden of Virginia, then residing in that city, was called upon for a speech, and responding, talked of the rich undeveloped iron ores and coals of Southwest Virginia, and so impressed his audience that a number of business men present at once made up a purse and sent General Imboden out to make an examination and report. General Imboden came out to Bristol, Virginia-Tennessee, the then nearest railroad point, and rode out on horseback and looked over the iron ore and coal fields of Wise and Lee Counties and made his report, having taken options upon three large coal properties then for sale. The result was that a purchase was made of the Olinger survey, embracing forty-two thousand acres (42,000) by C. S. O. Tintsman of Pittsburg and associates.

Sometime after this E. K. Hyndman, then Superintendent of the Western Division of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad became interested in the properties, and another large boundary, containing twenty-five thousand (25,000) acres was purchased by him from Patrick Hagan and in March 1881 Hyndman purchased the interests of his associates and became the owner of the whole.

Hyndman was then engaged in driving shafts and developing the now celebrated Connellsville coals for the Connellsville Coal and Iron Company, composed of leading men of Mauch Chunk and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, John Leisenring, John C. Bullitt, Samuel Dickson, Robert H. Sayre, Samuel Thomas, J. S. Wentz, M. S. Kemme?er and others. Hyndman soon interested these people in his Virginia properties and one year later The Virginia Coal and Iron Company was chartered by the General Assembly of Virginia, and upon its organization took over Hyndman's Virginia lands. This was the first large purchase of coal lands in Wise County by coal men for development, and was the commencement of a movement which afterwards led to the purchase of nearly all the coal lands in Wise County by practical coal men and greatly improved the prospects and enhanced the value of its real property.

The development of these properties was however delayed for many years for lack of transportation, and it was not until 1890 and 1891 that Wise County secured railroads. When they did come they came with a rush. The South Atlantic and Ohio Railroad (now the Southern) was completed in the spring of 1890 and the Louisville and Nashville and Norfolk and Western Railroads were completed to a junction at Norton in 1891, and the development of the coal and iron of the county commenced; few mines were opened however until 1895 and singular to say, the first iron made at Big Stone Gap was made with Pocahontas coke, although there was unequalled coking coal within a rifle shot of the plant. However from 1895, the development grew rapidly, coke ovens were built, mines opened branch railroads built, mining towns built, other enterprises established ; the population largely increased and fine school buildings and churches erected.

The growth of the County along all lines has been modern and up-to-date, and the increase in population and wealth has been rapid.

The population in 18908 was9,316; in 1900 19,653; in 1910 34,162, and is now 46, 500. The growth over the whole of the fluctuating. It has been a growth over the whole of the County and in all occupations and lines of industry. Those phenominal increases exceeded those of any other county in the State, and perhaps any other in the South.

The following statement of assessed values show the rapid growth of the wealth of the County:
1890, - $ 915,170.00
1895, - l,946,693.33
1900, - 2,883,198.39
1905, - 7,671,101.81
1910, - 11,011,779.85

Whilst we have not the accurate statistics for the last ten years, we hazard nothing in saying that it has more than doubled. No county in the State has shown such rapid and solid growth in the past thirty years as Wise and probably none in the South or elsewhere has equaled it. The first railroad penetrated the county in 1890 and its real development then began. At that time its rank in taxable wealth was ninetieth in the list of one hundred counties in the State. Today it leads them all in population and wealth.
Whilst the largest single industry in the county is the coal mining and coke making, there is a great diversity of industries embracing-
One Tanic Extract Plant,
One Tanyard and Leather Manufacturing Plant,
One Iron Furnace,
One Flour (roller) Mill,
One Car and Wheel Foundry,
Two Ice Plants,
Two General Iron Foundries,
One Furniture Factory,
One Stave Factory,
One Mattress and Awning Factory,
One Handle Factory,
One Silicon Brick Plant,
Several Bottling and Canning Plants.
A number of saw mills, band and circular mills, and other similar industries of like nature.

The railroad mileage of the county today is approximately 165 miles; assessed value $2,000,000 - Wise County having more miles of road than all of Southwest Virginia thirty years ago.

The county has expended over one million dollars in building good roads and is preparing to expend large sums next spring and summer. In this work she has excelled any other county in the State.

Whilst Wise County does not lay claim to lead in agriculture or fruit growing there are a few orchards in the county that take second rank to none and owing to the large number of mining and manufacturing plants there are numerous home markets for products.

The wealth and material progress of a community are not the surest index to character, but the simple story told by the foregoing facts is so pregnant with the proofs of a thrifty, progressive and enlightened population that we can invite within our gates those who desire a broader and better field for earnest effort, confident that but few sections can offer surer returns or more attractive rewards for intelligent and well directed energy.

Agriculture in Wise County

To give an accurate historical sketch of Wise county, agriculturally, would mean to go back for a number of years and picture the means employed by our forefathers in their task of cultivating the soil. At that time there were no railroads or coal mines in the county. It was simply a country populated by rugged men and women, enjoying no luxuries, with meagre conveniences, and in many instances, no doubt, lacking the necessities of life. They were forced to be self-sustaining. The problem that confronted them was not of supplying produce for market, as ours is today, but wresting a living from the stubborn wilderness. There were timber to cut and thickets to clear in order to get enough land on which to raise their crops. Almost every article they needed had to be produced at home by the efforts of the family. Hides and wool and possibly, a little ginseng were carried long distances on horseback to exchange for coffee, sugar, tea, salt, etc. The work of earning a living under such conditions was no small task. All the wheat, corn, meat, vegetables, milk and butter produced was consumed by the family.

But conditions have changed.

The methods of farming practiced by these old settlers would not serve today. They knew nothing of scientific agriculture; nothing of fertilizers, nothing of innoculation, nothing of lime. And many of the crops raised today were not familiar to them.
After the passing of years capital turned its eyes to Wise county. Timber which had been merely a nuisance in the way of cultivation, assumed a value. A demand was made for coal lying deep in the earth, with the very existence of which few were acquainted.

With the coming of the railroads and the explorations made by man, necessities were brought in. Not only did the farmers not produce for the men who were employed on the coal mines and on timber tracts, but they did not produce for themselves. But with the constant increasing population and the greater demands for farm products, this industry has been greatly enhanced. Yet the supply is so far behind the demand that it is a mere "drop in the bucket."

Few counties in the Union offer greater advantages for agricultural and horticultural pursuits than Wise. Her lands are especially adapted to the growth of almost all kinds of grain and fruit. And while there are extensive farm operations carried on in the county, as a whole, there still remain unlimited opportunities for those who wish to engage in the pursuit. A ready cash market is always available, for outside the several towns- Norton, Coeburn, Wise, Appalachia and Big Stone Gap-the mining camps offer a market throughout the year that cannot be surpassed. The prices that obtain equal those of the large cities. This refers, of course, to trucking, butter, milk and fruit. The staple crops, such as corn, oats, wheat, alfalfa, etc., would be just as eagerly bought. Irish potatoes flourish in Wise. The texture of the soil seems to be especially adapted to their growth. All of Wise county is not tillable, of course, but practically all the cultivatable sections could soon be developed and brought up to the highest point of cultivation. All that is needed is man power. The acreage here and the climate is favorable to raising crops of every description. Alfalfa has been grown in Wise for several years, and it has been demonstrated that it will flourish here as well as in any county.

As a fruit section, Wise cannot be excelled. The high altitude , and cool climate, soil light and not too rich, steep hills and mountain sides offer advantages that obtain in few sections. Apples will flourish as nowhere under the sun. Fortunes can be made on Wise county soil, either in staple crops, trucking or apple growing.

Live stock is claiming the attention of a number of prominent farmers of the county. With possibly 100,000 acres of grazing land, and the growing enthusiasm for pure bred stock, Wise county should be the Mecca for feeder-cattle buyers in Southwest Virginia. Pure bred bulls, rams and boars are being imported into the county and a revival of stock raising is noticeable in every direction. The mountain slopes afford pasturage for thousands of heads of cattle, sheep and hogs. And it is not necessary to mention in this article that never before in the history of the country did such high prices prevail.

It is a noticable and gratifying feature of the county that farmers are taking more interest in their homes than ever before. Those who own old buildings are remodeling them and otherwise adding to their attractiveness, while new houses are being erected in all sections of the county. In most cases they are of the improved type, embodying all conveniences and comforts.
If you are dissatisfied with your present condition and wish to make money- and make it quick- settle in Wise; engage in agriculture, horticulture or cattle raising and you will soon have your fondest hopes come true.
For further particulars, wiite U. S. Goss, county Farm Demonstrator.

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Coeburn - The Gateway to the Great Tom's Creek and Clinchfield's Dickenson County Coal Fields

If Coeburn had no other advantages than its splendid climate and beautiful scenery to attract the visitor and to divert his attention from every vexing care as he passes over the many miles of mountain and valley macadam road, it would still have an asset sufficient to insure a great future, now that the active development of this locality is to be vigorously pushed. But in addition to climate and scenery, being located, at the foothills of the great Appalachian chain of mountains, known as the Cumberland plateau, with a climate unsurpassed and charming to the pleasure seeker, its business interests are becoming more and more attractive.

Coeburn is situated on the once far-famed Guests Station site, where a lonely farm house stood some thirty years ago, and where now 10,000 people dwell in modern built homes within a radius of three miles, and transact hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of business annually. It is the wholesale and distributing point from which parts of Wise, Scott and Russell Counties draw their supplies. It is situated about 1800 feet above the sea level, midway between Bristol, Tennessee, Bluefield, West Virginia, and Middlesborough, Kentucky, ideally located, with abundant and uniform rain fall, a remarkably low death rate, good water from mountain springs, no mosquitos and no paupers. It has beautiful churches and handsome school buildings, representing several thousand dollars actually invested. The educational adantages are as good as the best.
As a business center, Coeburn has Toms Creek, Cranes Nest Wanner, and Bruce coal operations within easy reach, and within her limits wholesale stores, many retail stores, jewelry stores and repair shops, lumber yards and planing mills and numerous other business interests. It is in the heart of many resources. Coal and timber of many varieties are in abundance. Here nature has apparently done her best to make this region an exceptionally attractive one for the manufacturer, the farmer, the coal operator, and the fruit grower. The hills and mountains are underlaid with coal that cannot be excelled for steam, coking and domestic purposes. The valley lands are exceptionally suited for vegetables and truck growing; while on the hills and mountain tops the fruit grower has been provided with the most ideal conditions. The products of truck growers are marketed by the growers directly to the mineworkers; thus commanding the best price and eliminating freight charges.

Coeburn is the banking and financial center of this entire section, having two excellent banks - $688,000 subject to check.

Coeburn offers splendid opportunities to capitalists, manufacturers, mine operations, merchants, business and professional men in general. In industrial expansion a very notable showing is made by the Coeburn of today; abundance of coal and other raw materials at hard, cheapness of assembling material, and ease of distribution of finished product will make this a still more attractive center for investments.

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Norton - Once "Prince's Flat," the Lodge of a Hunter, Now Has 5,000 Population - Industries with a Payroll of $3,000,000 Annually, has Fine Streets, Good Schools, and Oil Development Prospects

Norton, the largest and one of the most importantt towns in Wise county, occupies the site once known as Prince's Flat, the name having been derived from an old hunter by name of Prince who made his headquarters there after days and weeks spent hunting game in the surrounding mountains. The name of Norton was given the town in honor of a family of Nortons, residing in Louisville, Ky., who were identified with the development of the community, owning at the time practically all the land on which Norton stands.

Norton is on an elevation of 2,135 feet above sea level and has a population of five thousand. It is the terminus of the Clinch Valley division of the Norfolk & Western Railway, the Cumberland Valley division of the Louisville and Nashville Railway, and is on the main line of the Interstate railroad.

James B. Peirce is mayor of Norton, which was incorporated in 1890. The town has electric light and water systems, both owned by the Old Dominion Power Company. Thore are five churches in Norton, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal and Holiness.

Contracts will soon be let for the construction of a 12-room annex to the high school building, the three public schools under the supervision of Principal J. I. Burton having an enrollment of about 1,000 pupils.

Park Avenue, the main street of the town, was recently paved with asphalt at a cost of about $100,000. There are five miles of paved streets in Norton, which has eight miles of side walks, with more contemplated so that the town can secure postal delivery.

About fifty miles of macadamized roads radiate from Norton to Big Stone Gap, Appalachia, Coeburn, Wise, Dorchester and Glamorgan. About $700,000 will be spent in improving the county roads, much of which will be expended on the above-mentioned roads.

Industries of Norton are the Norton Coal Company, shippers of coal and manufacturers of coke; Norton Car and Foundry Company, making mine cars and mine equipment; Norton Ice and Cold Storage Corporation; Interstate Casket Company; Norton Electric Supply and Equipment Company, manufacturing electric steel grids and rewinding armatures; Norton Armature Works, Inc., newly established; Norton Mattress and Manufacturing Company; F. B. Kline Corporation, manufacturing ice cream and coca cola; T. M. Pepper Bottling Works; Farmer Milling Co., grist mill; N. & W. machine shop; two printing establishments, the Coal Field Progress edited by John Ed. Pearee, and Crawford's Weekly, edited by Bruce Crawford; Old Dominion Power Company, light, water and power.

A hosiery mill is to be erected here by the Kitz-Miller Scott company, which will furnish employment to about three hundred women, girls and boys. The annual payroll of these industries is around $3,000,000.

The principal farm products, corn, oats, peaches, apples, cattle, sheep, and hogs, are disposed of in the coalfields.
Norton has thirty retail stores and six wholesale houses; two thriving banks, both National, and at the present time a six story hotel and about fifteen business and dwelling houses are under construction.

The Interstate Railroad plans to extend a branch from Norton down Guests River to connect with the C. C. & O. at a point on Clinch River, which will give Norton five lines of railroads.

Norton business men are planning to develop gas in the Nettle Patch three miles distant, where a well has been burning for twenty-five years.

If there is any tightening up of business in the country, Norton has not felt it and the town is destined to further progress with the development of the larger coal regions on Guests River and Indian Creek.

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Appalachia by DK. M. L. STALLARD

Appalachia believes herself to be the best commercial town in Wise county, and is growing by leaps and bounds. Served by three railroads, and surrounded by large coal mines and coking plants whose payrolls are immense, it is a wide-awake place with everything the active man could desire. Good churches, good schools, wholesale and supply houses, and stores of every description.

Appalachia is also enjoying a building boom although improvements of a permanent character have been steady since this town came into existence. Among the many improvements actually in process of construction are the Appalachia Hardware Company building. This is of brick, four-story, and is fifty by one hundred feet. Messrs. Morton & Parker, attorneys, and Dr. Peters have built a two story brick office building; Mr. Vaughan, the jeweler, a two-story brick; Frank Tamer a two-story brick, for dry goods; William Isaac a two-story brick, for a fruit store. But one of the "to-be" best buildings in this part of the country is soon to be started by The First National Bank. We are informed that they are getting up the plans for an eight-story building covering the entire lot where Mr. Bloom had his furnishing store. S. D. Green has commenced the erection of a fine brick dwelling in the Blondell Addition, and the Wise Realty Corporation is building a number of dwellings on their property which are scrambled for long before they are completed. These are only a few of the improvements going on, and to be made in the near future. Appalachia is so situated that it will always be a live commercial town. Located in the center of the large coal fields of the western part of the county insures it a continued prosperity. It enjoys all the facilities of modern cities, electric lights, gcod sidewalks, moving picture shows, good sewerage, etc., besides being supplied by one of the best water systems in the county. In fact, Appalachia is proud of her water system; the supply is pure, with a never-failing source from the watersheds of Stone mauntain.

It is a town too busy to take time to talk against its neighbors, and would not if it did; a place with no harbored jealousies, but wishes success to all, for Appalachia knows that her future is assured.

The town is progressing, and will continue to progress, so now is the time to participate in prosperity.

Appalachia citizens invite all to join them. There is plenty of room for wide-awake people, but no place for the inactive, for it is a busy town.

If you are interested in locating in a live town, you are urged to visit Appalachia and see what is going on in the way of development and material progress.

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St. Paul

The town of St. Paul is especially desirably located for a manufacturing point, as it has splendid railroad facilities, the N. & W. and C. C. & O. railways connecting the town with points north, east and south. It is also situated in the coal region, there being a number of coal plants operated within a few miles of its corporate limits. Besides, it is in the heart of a fertile agricultural section, the lands being capable of producing almost any crop that flourishes in a mountainous region. Stock raising could be. carried on in this section to great advantage. Already a number of thrifty farmers are devoting their time to this industry, and it has proven vastly remunerative.

The Clinch River Extract Company owns and operates a tremendous plant here. It gives employment to a large force of workmen. This is possibly one of the largest industries, outside of the coal plants, in Wise county.

The town has a bank, hotel and a number of retail establishments.

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Wise

Wise, one of the important towns of the county, offers settlers many advantages, among which might be mentioned high elevation and a delightful year-round climate. The beautiful expanse of level land, in the midst of which the town is built, suggests the most desirable and picturesque place for a home.

Wise is the county seat, with a population of about 1,000 people. It is a substantial business town. There are two banks in the place, besides a modern hotel, garages, retail merchandise establishments, etc.

Regular sessions of the county court are held here quarterly, and this feature alone attracts citizens from all parts of the county. Its location, about four miles off the railroad, gives it a secluded and peaceful air that is very refreshing to the person who is tired of the restless, noisy life of a more metropolitan center. For a quiet, healthful mountain town, free from cares and worries, and populated by a warm hearted, hospitable people, Wise offers ideal home conditions and the most pleasant environments.

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Big Stone Gap

Big Stone Gap is one of the important towns of Southwest Virginia, and when one thinks of Southwest Virginia they instantly think of Big Stone Gap, for it was the boom of the latter part of the eighties that attracted the attention of the world to the "Gap." Big Stone Cap was incorporated about 188?, and according to the late John Fox. Jr., himself one of the pioneers, "Twelve railroads were surveyed to the Gap, and on came town- buildings, civil and mining engineers, shrewd investors, reckless speculators, and-sharks, lawyers, doctors, storekeepers, gamblers, card sharks, railroad men-all the flotsam and jetsam of the terrible boom!" Then came the crash in the early nineties and "slowly each capitalist went back to his own trade, and the blacksmith to his forge, the singing teachor his hymn-book, and the preacher to his Bible." Fortunately for Bg Stone Gap she had men of nerve who blieved in her future. The late Campbell Slemp, father of Representative C. B. Slemp, Rufus A. Ayres, R. T. Irvine, Judge H A. W. Skeen, and John Fox, Jr., the novelist, were among the men who pulled Big Stone Gap out of the rut of despondency, and the present busy town is a monument to the men who helped the town weather the boom days.

Today W. J. Horsley is mayor of Big Stone Gap, a city which owns its own water plant, has electric lights, and has eleven churches within its bounds. The denominations represented are Missionary Baptist, Methodist, two M. E. Churches, South, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Christian and Holiness, while the colored people have Baptist, Methodist and Episcopal churches.

Big Stone Gap is the home of the general offices of the Stonega Coke and Coal Company, the pioneer company that tapped the coal in that section. It has the general offices of the Interstate Railroad Company, and the Appalachian Division of the Southern Railway, and the offices of the Intermount Coal & Iron Company, the South & West Coal Company and the Union Tanning Company.

Big Stone Gap has two modern schools with an enrollment of 700 pupils. It has five miles of macadam streets, more than one mile of improved sidewalks, and is on the state highway system of roads; has two improved roads radiating from it and another provided for.

Big Stone Gap has the Union Tanning Company, operating an extract plant and also a tannery; the Intermont Coal and Iron Company iron furnaces, the Kitzmiller-Scott Corporation's large central hosiery mill under construction, the payroll of industries being fully $2,000,000 annually.

The farms around Big Stone Gap produce all kinds of farm products, cattle, wheat and corn, There are no wholesale houses, but the town has two drug stores, four dry goods stores and five groceries.

Roanoke vies with Louisville, Cincinnati, Knoxville and Bristol as the jobbing and wholesale point for Big Stone Gap merchants, while the cattle from that section is shipped to Cincinnati, and the produce raised is consumed in the coalfields.

Big Stone Cap affords a splendid location for a brick plant, cement plant, and for utilizing the by-products of coal and coke plants.

The town is located in a beautiful mountain section and it is an ideal place to spend the summer months. It has one of the finest postoffices in the state, constructed in 1912 at a cost of $125,000. One weekly newspaper is published at Big Stone Gap. The Post, edited by Gilbert N. Knight, who has just completed a fine new building.

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Wise Coal and Coke Company

There is no industry in Wise county that has been a greater factor in its development than coal mining. It has opened the avenues of commerce to this section in such a manner that its value cannot be over estimated.

Had coal not been discoveredin the hills and mountains of the county, and men of far-sighted business acumen been attracted to this section, this would still be an undeveloped portion of the State. As it is, there are thousands of men given regular employment, and are paid the highest wages for their labor of any class of workman. A miner, as a rule, has it within his power to make his time very profitable, or unprofitable; the question of wage earning rests largely upon the individual, for in most cases he is paid by the cartage or load.

Never before in the history of coal mining was there as much interest taken in the industry as in the past few years. New mines are being opened almost daily, while the old ones arc being worked with a marked degree of regularity.

Among the important and leading plants of Wise is the Wise Coal and Coke Company. This is one of the oldest mining operations in the State for it was back in the year 1874, forty-five years ago. that the mines now being worked by this company were first opened, a miner and coal operator by the name of Gray was the pioneer developer of the property. And although worked continuously for nearly half a century the deposit of coal is apparently untouched, for working normally it is estimated that the supply will last for 200 years longer and is considered to be of the very best quality.

The camps, or towns, of the Wise Coal and Coke Company are Dorchester and Sutherland, locatod just west of Norton. Dorchester can be reached in a distance of one mile, while Sutherland is possibly two miles further north. There are few mining camps more desirably located, or present a more attractive appearance. The houses are well constructed and painted, a majority of them containing four rooms, while a number have five and six rooms. There are four hundred and fifty houses in the two towns, affording ample accommodation for the operatives, numbering upwards of six hundred. The working conditions at the mines are as favorable as will be found anywhere, as every convenience and comfort has been provided the men and their families. The houses are lighted by electricity and a large number are equipped with running water. In addition to the water supply furnished by the company, there is a well on each man's lot. The water is pure, being free of any contamination, or impurities whatsoever; hence the mortuary record is exceedingly low. Sickness is rare at Dorchester and Sutherland.

The operatives have been provided with every means of recreation and amusement possible, and this largely accounts for the
satisfied conditions that obtain among the men. A motion picture theatre is operated at Dorchester where many of the best pictures are shown. Besides this, the younger men have organized a baseball club, which crosses bats with other teams of the county throughout the season. It is a well drilled and practiced team, and the scores made attest to the athletic training and knowledge of the players of the National game.

Other means of recreation and sport are basketball, football and boxing matches.

A public reading room is also maintained where the men can have access to magazines, newspapers and books. This feature has encouraged hundreds to apply their spare time improving their minds and keeping posted on the important questions of the day.

The care and attention of men in case of sickness or accident has not been overlooked. A hospital with sufficient rooms to care for a large number, in case of emergency, stands as a memorial to the officers of the company, showing in unmistakable terms that they have the welfare and health of their employes at heart. The operating room is thoroughly modern, containing all the improved devices and appliances needed in the treatment of patients.

The coal mined at Dorchester and Sutherland is of the very highest grade and is, therefore, in great demand wherever coal
is bought and consumed, being of the bituminous quality and running over 15,000 B. T Us. There are three mines being worked, all producing the same character of product. They are drift mines, and the coal is easily obtained, the average height being equal to those worked in any section of the coal-producing States.

The capacity of the plants is 75,000 tons per month.

Mines are electrically equipped throughout, the most modern appliances being employed, including electric lights, electric cutting machines, electric reversible fans, etc. By the use of reversible fans perfect ventilation is obtained inside the mines at all times.

The electric power is bought from the Old Dominion Power Company, and transmitted to the Wise Coal & Coke Company's own sub-stations, two in number. The buildings are constructed of stone and thoroughly equipped for supplying the towns of Dorchester and Sutherland with electric lights besides furnishing operating power. The machinery installed is of the newest type and operated automatically. No complaint is ever heard of the lighting system employed by this company.

It requires two tipples to handle the large volume of coal mined at the two camps; one tipple is stationed at Dorchester and the other at Sutherland.

The company maintains and operates its own machine shop, one of the most modern in the country. All repairs to broken machinery are made on the premises by expert mechanics. For this reason there is very little lost time sustained at either operation.

The largest pumping plant in the coal fields of this section is owned by this company. It has a capacity of 6,000 gallons water per minute.

A commissary is conducted for the employees, and which is stocked with complete lines of groceries, dry goods, shoes, clothing, etc. In connection, a fresh meat department is also operated. There is nothing that could be secured on the larger markets that the workmen at the mines of Dorchester and Sutherland are unable to get.

Coke manufacture is another industry carried on by this progressive company. There are six hundred bee hive ovens installed, producing 24,000 tons of coke monthly.

During the war, the Wise Coal & Coke Company supplied the government with regular shipments of coal and coke, contributing in this way toward defeating the Hun.

A spur track connects the two towns with the Inter-State at Dorchester Junction, where loaded cars are taken over by the Inter-State and hauled to Appalachia for connection with the Southern, and to Norton for connection with the Norfolk & Western and Louisville & Nashville roads; hence transportation over three railroads is employed.

A conservative estimate of coal deposits on the company's property may place the supply, working normally, of sufficient volume to last two hundred years.

Among the improvements contemplated and now underway, is the erection of a new tipple to replace the one formerly used and which was destroyed by fire August 5th. The newly installed tipple is modernm in construction and provided with every convenience and labor-saving device known to the trade.

Religious influence is felt throughout the towns, there being five churches in Dorchester and Sutherland, representing the Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and Catholic denominations. Three of the number are attended by white people and two by colored.

Education has not been neglected, either, and the children of the numerous employes are afforded unsurpassed school facilities. It requires five schools to accommodate the large concourse of "young miners" who are growing up in an educational atmosphere. Three of the five schools are for white children and the remaining two are maintained for colored children.
The Wise Coal & Coke Company is doing a good work among their employes, and nothing is omitted to bring about the most advantageous conditions, morally, mentally and spiritually.

As further evidence of enterprise on the part of this company, a motor bus line is operated from Sutherland, via Dorchester, to Norton, for the convenience of employees. The car makes several round-trips each day. With a capacity of at least twenty passengers, its operation is one of great value to people living in the towns of Sutherland and Dorchester.

The officers are: J.L. Kemmper, president; R.S> Graham, vice-president; W.E> Decker, secretary-treasurer and D. Terpstra, general manager.

Mr. Terpstra has made the coal and coke business a study, and he knows how to handle men; he is kind, attentive and generous, yet posses managerial ability that counts when it comes to handling six hundred employees. He is mayor, sergeant, council and arbitrator in Dorchester and Sutherland; so it will be readily seen that his time is fully taken up superintending matters that pertain to the towns and their inhabitants. It requires a man full of vim, vigor and determination to fill such an important position; in Mr. Terpstra the three qualifications are conspicously manifested. He has made friends of all with whom business or pleasure has brought him in contact.

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W. B. Ford Furniture Company

Among the long-established and prosperous mercantile businesses of Wise county is that of W. B. Ford Furniture Company, of Norton, now owned exclusively by Mr. W. B. Ford.

Mr. Ford came to Norton in 1901 from Graham, Va., as an employee of the Chicago House Furnishing Company. In 1904 he started the Ford Furniture Company, and four years ago he bought out his associates. At that time the volume of business done was from $2,000 to $3,000 monthly. It now runs from $12,000 to $15,000, and he is compelled to buy his stock in car load lots in order to meet the demands made upon him. He is planning to erect a brick building of his own of sufficient rooming capacity to take care of his heavily increased stock, which at this time invoices at around $10,000. The quarters now occupied are inadequate, although several additions have been made at the rear of the building for ware-rooms. Five employees, two trucks and an occasional wagon dray are a part of his overhead, and this is likely to be increased in the near future.

When Mr. Ford acquired complete ownership of the business, he reduced prices from 30 to 40 per cent and advertised his good for sale on the instalment plan or for cash, allowing a discount of 5 per cent in the latter case. As a result he has had calls from all over several counties for ranges, refrigerators, kitchen cabinets, bed-steads, rugs, and all kinds of home furnishings.

Mr. Ford is a strong advocate of social and civic improvement, always being active in community undertakings of this kind. He is one of the most stable and most influential citizens of the town, well liked by the entire community. Mr. Ford recently completed a splendid home on Highland Avenue, which is one of the mansions of the Southwest, a picture of which is soon to appear in the "Country Home Magazine".

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The Opening of the Norton Hospital

On Thursday, July 29th, the Norton Hospital, at Norton, Va., recently promoted by Dr. Joseph A. McGuire, formerly of Princeton, and Drs. Fox and St. Clair, of Bluefield, was formally opened for the reception of patients. The hospital is one of Norton's most imposing structures, and in situated on the most beautiful street of the town and has a large, spacious lawn on one side that is the envy of all who see it. The hospital building is a four story brick and was formerly used as a hotel but has been thoroughly renovated and remodeled by its owners until at present it is second to none in its arrangement for the care, attention and convenience of the sick.

The operating room is unusually large, well ventilated and conveniently located, and in its equipment it is strictly up to date. The sterilizing room and equipment is of the very latest, and is of the best that could be had. The X-ray department is the last word in X-ray work. Altogether, in its locat? arrangement, equipment and painstaking management, it was the concensus of opinion of all who attended the opening that the Norton Hospital would do credit to a city of much greater population.

The hospital was visited all through the day by a number of the friends of the institution and the citizens of Norton, and at four p. m. the invited guests arrived for a two hours' reception. The hospital was beautifully decorated by ferns and flowers, and punch was served by two charming young ladies. Misses Alderson and Abbey, of Wise, Va.

After being shown over the hospital all the guests repaired to the cool, shady, refreshing lawn, where a most delicious salad course was served.

The staff is made up of Dr. Joseph A. McGuire, surgeon in charge; Dr. J. Frank Fox and Dr. W. H. St.Clair, of Bluefield, consulting surgeons, and Dr. Frank H. Fox. Miss Mary Frances Harold, who was for a number of years a nurse in this city, is superintendent of nurses and X-ray technician.

Those present at the opening were: Dr. Claude Bowyer, Stonega Hospital; Dr. and Mrs. Tompkins, of Coeburn Hospital; Dr. and Mrs. Dunkley of Toms Creek Hospital; Dr. W. H. Wallingford, of Princeton Hospital; Dr. and Mrs. Wade H. St.Clair of the Bluefield Sanitarium; Mrs. Dr. Fox, of Bluefield; Dr. Rogers, of Bluefield Sanatorium; Dr. and Mrs. Pence, of St. Charles, Va.; Dr. and Mrs. Hutchinson, of Blackwood Coal & Iron Co.; Dr. and Mrs. N. F. Hix, of Wise, Va.; Dr. H. M. Miles, of Wise; Dr. and Mrs. O. F. Foust, Norton; Dr. and Mrs. R. P. Carr, of Norton; Dr. and Mrs. J. W. Kelly, of Big Stone Gap; Dr. and Mrs. Gilmer of Big Stone Gap; Dr. Moore, of Glamorgan; Dr. Givens, of Dorchester; Dr. and Mrs. Harris, of Norton; Dr. and Mrs. J. A. McGuire and several other friends of the institution.

In the fall of 1919 the Norton Machinery and Supply Co., Norton, Virginia, was organized, to serve the mines, saw mills and coke ovens in the Clinch Valley coalfield, as manufacturers' agents and jobbers of mine, mill, factory and electrical equipment. This concern has filled a long felt want in this coalfield. They represent the manufacturer direct and in this way they are able to eliminate, in a large way, the middleman or jobber's profit.

Mr. T. S. McKelvey, familiarly known as "Mack," is president and in charge of sales. He has been in this field for a number of years and needs no introduction. Mr. H. P. Young, Secretary and Treasurer, is in charge of the office end. Mr. Young was for a number of years with the Stonega Coke and Coal Co., as purchasing agent and is also well known in this field.

In addition to being manufacturers' agent, this concern operates the Norton Storage Battery Co., who rebuild, recharge and repair all makes of batteries.

They carry in stock such material as brattice cloth, friction tape, rail bonds, welding rod, wire rope, etc.

A birthday dinner was given at the home of James B. Stallard in the Hurricane, July 22, it being the occasion of the 78th birthday of his mother, Mrs. Mary Stallard, who was born in Scott county, July 22, 1812.

A Inge number of her children, grand children and great grand children were present- four generations in all.

Grand-mother Stallard has lived a devout Christian, having been for a number of years a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She is grandmother to fifty children and great-grandmother to twenty-one.

She was a Powers before her marriage to Raleigh B. Stallard in 1864. To this union were born four children- George, Betty, James and Vick.

Raleigh B. Stallard died in 1872, and in 1884 she was married to John B. Stallard. To this union were born three children, William, Elbert and Charles.

After the dinner there was some singing mixed with delightful talks by the good old souls who had not had such an opportunity to gather together in a long time. It was a good old-fashioned home-coming reunion.

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HEALTH WORK BY MISS MORGAN

The health work of Miss Jane Morgan, Public Health nurse for Wise county, cannot be commended too highly.
Under her supervision many cases of ill health and disease have been treated and the patients nursed back to the exhilaration of well-ordered living.

Mothers have been directed and daughters instructed in work pertaining to hygiene and sanitation, wonderful results being accomplished along these lines.

Wide recognition has been accorded her efforts and the cooperation of those interested certainly seems to rest upon a solid foundation.

Report of Work Done by Big Stone Gap Public Health Nursing Service of the A. R. C. for the Month of August, 1920, is as follows:

12 clubs held for mothers.
144 mothers attended.
86 instructive visits to school children.
32 school children examined by a physician (Dunbar).
1 school children accompanied to Dr. Staley.
1 tubercular patient sent to Catawba.
1 feeble minded girl sent to Richmond psycologist.
4 crippled children sent to Richmond hospital.
1 free bed secured for brother of soldier who died in service.
5 home service cases assisted with.
4 orthopedic cases visited and instructed.
3 social service cases reported to office; homes visited and reported to proper agencies.
7 boys applied for scholarships in schools.
5 girls applied for scholarships in schools.
3 mentally defective children visited.
4 girls applied for work.
3 widows applied for homes or schools for children.
1 emergency operation assisted with.

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WISE COUNTY POPULATION

The population of Wise county, Virginia is 46,500, against, 34,162 in 1910, an increase of 12,338, or 36.1 per cent. In 1900 the county had a population of 19,653 and the increase for the ten years following the opening up of the coal fields was 14,509, or 73.8 percent.

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COEBURN

Busy town in coal and coke fields. Has 850 children in schools; has annual payroll of $1,000,000 and is heart of territory with opportunities.

Coeburn, an important town in the coal and coke fields, was incorporated about twenty-five years ago, and its one school had an attendance of 850 pupils last session. J. M. Quillen entered upon his duties as mayor of Coeburn on September 1. The town has electric lights furnished by a plant at Dorchester. It has three churches, Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist. There are several miles of improved streets and side walks, while 175 miles of improved highways radiate from the town.

Besides the coal and coke plants the town has a pop factory, and a small bakery. The annual payroll of the industries in the Coeburn vicinity was $1,000,000 last year.

Considerable trucking is carried on, the products being consumed in the coalfields. Coeburn has three wholesale houses uid about eighteen retail stores of various kinds.
Coeburn is in the heart of a rich, undeveloped territory, and there are openings there for industries using iron or timber in the raw state.

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