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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Bluefield Daily Telegraph<BR>January 31, 1909</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT size=4>PUT FORCE TO WORK ON MATE CREEK
BRANCH</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG>Seven Mile Spur of Norfolk and Western Will Reach a
New Coal Field</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial> </FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman">It was learned yesterday that the Norfolk and Western
Railway company will shortly put a force of men to work on the Mate Creek branch
near Matewan. The branch mentioned will extend about seven miles up Mate
Creek to Logan county and there will reach an entirely new coal field into which
it is understood that the Virginian railway has already sent engineers who have
been surveying and securing rights of way into that body of coal, which is of a
high grade.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left> It may not be possible to finish the line for
over a year as a great deal of the work which will be done at this time will be
preliminary work which will probably cost somewhere in the neighborhood of
$25,000. Nothing is known here of the plans of the railroad company and
this is especially true at the time when the New York market is dealing to such
an extent in Norfolk and Western stock that the local officials, and even the
president, are unable to tell what a day will bring forth.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> The Mate Creek extension, together with the
work that is to be done on the Sciota division and which was mentioned in
yesterday's Daily Telegraph (posted on N&W Mailing List 1/10/2009), should
make the year 1909 a big year for the local railroad if the business and
enrnings keep up to anywhere near a good average.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> If, however, the tariff on coal should be
removed it is hard to tell what would happen to West Virginia coals and
railroads during the next four or five years, or until such time as the coal
companies and railroad could develop an entirely new market in the west where
they would have to compete with the Michigan coals, which are nearly as good as
Pocahontas, and the coals from the northwest together with those from Indiana,
Illlinois, Wisconsin and other states.</DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Script size=6>Gordon
Hamilton</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>