<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16809" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Bluefield Daily Telegraph<BR>July 18,
1909</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT size=4>TUNNEL ASSESSED AT TWENTY THOUSAND
DOLLARS</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG>Sun Never Rises on that Part of N. & W. Road Which
is in Kentucky. Bridge at Each Portal</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left> There are very few people who are aware that
Kentucky has some interest in the Norfolk and Western railroad. People who
travel over Tug river division [<EM>sic</EM>] almost daily do so without noting
the fact that there is a short piece of the line located in that state and think
that all the while they are traveling in West Virginia.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> The strange feature in the case is that the
piece of line which passes through Kentucky has never yet enjoyed any sunshine
as it is entirely under the ground. It includes what is known as the
Hatfield tunnel located a short distance west of Matewan and which is about five
hundred feet long. At that point there is a short bend in Tug river and
the river is bridged. So high is the point of ground where the bridge
reaches the Kentucky side that the tunnel became necessary, and as soon as the
track passes through the mountain another bridge spans the river to the West
Virginia side again. About the center of the lower bridge the state line
is indicated on the bridge by iron plates or markers.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> The short portion of the road in Kentucky has
been valued for taxation at the sum of $20,000 [<EM>About $440,000 today per
CPI.</EM>]</DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=left>[<EM>It may have been the N&W Magazine some years ago that
had a small item stating that a freight shipment from Matewan, WV to Williamson,
WV, about nine miles had to move under ICC interstate rates because it went
through Kentucky in the tunnel.</EM>]</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Script size=6>Gordon
Hamilton</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>