EAST TENNESSEE. 19 



silver, or as being the point of intersection of two great railroad lines, 

 that more nearly than any other lines in the country, cut all the region 

 east of St. Louis and Omaha into four nearly equal parts; or viewed 

 geographically as the precise center of East Tennessee ; or, enlarging the 

 circle, as the center of a larger region, whose circumference sweeps around 

 from Lexington to Louisville, from Louisville to Nasliville, from Nash- 

 ville to Atlanta, and from Atlanta, by a wide circuit, round to Lynchburg, 

 in which it is the largest town, the position of Knoxville is a most 

 comma nding one. Atlanta is distant two hundred and ten miles, Lynch- 

 burg three hundred and thirty miles. Little does he know of the laws of 

 trade who supposes that a large interior town will not spring up in the 

 center of a country destined soon to witness the highest development of 

 agriculture, and to become an iron district, with all its attendant manufac- 

 tures, unsurpassed by any in the country. 



6. Building Material. — Lumber.— Owing to the great number of 

 our rivers and smaller streams which flow in every direction through 

 this mountainous countiy, the very great quantity of timber of which 

 wo are possessed is easily accessible. With our net-work of railroads 

 and water courses almost all our tind:)er is easily reached and can be 

 brought into market at low rates. The varieties of timber are very nu- 

 merous. Wo have yellow and white pine, white, red and black oak, 

 black walnut, hickory, chestnut, yellow poi)lar, white and red cedar, sweet 

 gum, black gum, ash, locust, cherry and hemlock. The black walnut 

 and cherry are found in coves of hills and mountains and bottom lands. 

 Hemlock and white pine are found only in the mountains ; mainly on the 

 South side of the State. White and red cedar are found in abundance 

 on ridges and knobs near the rivers and rocky lowlands. The (juanti- 

 ty of our timber and the facilities for reaching it far exceed the av- 

 erage of agricultural regions. The red cedar is abundant and can be 

 used for the manufacture of wooden-ware for which there is a great de- 

 mand. Ash, hickoiy, oak and yellow pine can be obtained in the greatest 

 abundance and at prices which aftbrd a large profit in all departments of 

 wooden machine manufacturing. Black walnut, gum and cherry can be 

 had here at rates comparatively very l(jw. Pine, poplar and oak for build- 

 ing ])uri)Oses can be i>laccd in market with profit at such cheap prices as 

 would astonish men from most sections. Poplnr, oak and yollnw ]»ino sell 

 at fifteen to eighteen dollars per thousand ; black walnut and white pine 

 from twenty-five to thirty-five dollars. 



Brick. — Our soil is peculiarly adapted to brick making. Tluu'e :iie 

 but few localities in East IVMinossee where brick clay is scarce. 'I'lie bricks 

 commonly used by our builders are large ; they will weigh .5 1 pounds ; 

 are nine inches long, four inches wide and three inches thick. They can 

 be made very cheap. At Knoxville the cost in the kiln is Jicc dollars and 

 twenty-five cents per thousand. They were delivered last year to builders 

 at prices ranging from six to ten dollars. 



