The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-11 00:00:00

scent into darkness there is a subterranean road,
called in the mines a " highway," from which there
are branch shafts to feed the highway, and thus the
coal is brought to the foot of the thousand feet shaft,
whence it is raised by a windlass worked with steam, hauling
up two cars, each of which contains a ton at least of pure
coal, while two empty cars are lowered down the parallel
track at the same time. I timed the ascent of several car-
loads of coal, and the journey from the bottom of the shaft
was performed in exactly two minutes. At the same time
the steam-engine, when necessary, works two immense
' pumps, to extract the water from the bottom of the mine.
But at the distance of a mile Mr. Potts has an exhausted
mine, deeper than that I ♦isited, where the steam-pumps
are constantly at work, and with such effect that they
drain the upper mine pretty expeditiously. The water
from these great depths is impregnated with iron and sul-
phur. The cars of coal, having reached the surface, are
instantly run along a railroad, and through a tunnel, to a
cracking mill, where the blocks of coal are broken by steam
power into different sizes, known as " nut," " stove," &c.,
all falling through a revolving screen with several com-
partments, each having smaller or larger holes—and thus
all the coal of different sizes is deposited in separate heaps.
The whole is on a mountain side, so that the coal is
dropped, as it were, upon the bank of a railroad, one of
many scores from different mines connected with the
Reading Railroad. A " coal-cracking machine" is, in
point of fact, a coffee-mill on a gigantic scale. I saw
other mines in other mountain valleys, but ab uno disce
omnes, so there is no occasion to describe them. One
feature in these valleys strikes every stranger with
surprise, and that is the millions upon millions of tons of
coal dust, or, as it would be called in England,

" small coal." Thus far these vast mounds of refuse
have been little better than useless, being anthracite.
Were it bituminous dust, it could be mixed with different
ingredients into " fire-balls." as in some parts of England
and Wales, or it could be used by blacksmiths; but no
discovery has yet been made to render the anthracite small
coal available as fuel. There are air shafts here and there,

leading from different galleries of the mines into upper
air, at bottom of some of which large fires are kept
burning for purposes of purifying and ventilating the sub-
terranean atmosphere. I find that at the mouth of a mine,
say from two to six miles from the town, coal may be had
at VI per ton ; but then the purchaser must haul it home.
Most of the mines are worked upon royalties—that is, a
coal company pays the owner of the land and mine from
25c. to 40c. per ton for allhe gets out, said company being at
the expense of mining, and the landowner keeping a clerk
at the works, to count and check the produce of the mine.
This may also be proved by the receipts from the mine at the
junction of the branch railroad with the Reading Road, or
canal, as the case may be. After all, there appears to be
as much risk in mining here as elsewhere. While many
fortunes are made at it, others are lost. It is a lottery,
in which sometimes the most experienced judgment is at
fault. The population of Pottsville (urban) is 9,000, and
suburban, and in the adjoining mountain valleys, about
18,000; all of whom are supported by the coal mines. The
entire population supported by working this field of an-
thracite is about 50,000.
With regard to the qualities of the coal, I subjoin three
specimens :-
1. Mauch Chunk—Specific gravity, 1.550; carbon, 90.10;
water and volatile matter, 6.60; ashes, silica, earth, and
iron, 3.3o.—(Professor Olmstead.)
2. Pottsville—Specific gravity, 1.472 ; carbon, 85.90 ;
water and volatile matter, 7.20; ashes, silica, earth, and
iron, 6.90.—(M. C. Lea.)
3. Wilkesbarre—Specific gravity, 1.403 ; carbon, 81.90 ;
water and volatile matter, 7.68; ashes, silica, earth, and
iron, 3.49.—(Rogers.)
At present there are three principal ways by which the
coal is conveyed from the mines to tide-water. The first,
and by far the most important, is, the Reading Railroad. I
have recently forwarded so complete an exposé of the finan-
cial condition of this road, which you published, that to
repeat it would be a mere work of supererogation ; but
there are other points relating to the build and prospects
of this road worthy of consideration, especially as the non-
payment of the last half-yearly dividends on the stock
created so great a sensation. This, as I explained to you
at the time, was owing to the large floating debt of the
company, partly produced by the extra traffic of the road
demanding an extra outlay for cars, &c. ; and partly on
account of the high rates paid for money, for the purpose
of paying the dividends on the stock, &c. —a bad mode of
doing business. It is to be regretted that in the statement of
accounts made by the company, the amount of the floating
debt was not exhibited. I learn, by the way, that it is about
$2,200,000, more or less; and I have it from the Directory
of the Road, " that the present floatinc, debt will be en-
tirely absorbed by the profits of the road in about a year"—
after which the stock dividends will be resumed. This

will be good news for the English stockholders ; and it is
probably owing to this calculation having leaked out that
the stock has advanced from 31 to 36i within a few days.
The interest on all the bonds is paid regularly, and English
capitalists hold $2,000,000 of its stock and $6,000,000 of
its bonds. 41ready the tons of coal brought to tide-water
are 400,000 more than to the same period of last year.
Judge, then, of the increase of the traffic.
Physically speaking, the very nature of the ground from
Pottsville through Reading to Philadelphia is favourable
for a coal railroad, the descent being about 708 feet, so
that in the sharpest grades the trains of cars laden with
coal could really descend without a locomotive, while the
ground for the entire distance is of rocky gravel, hard and
firm. Near Philadelphia, it consists of micareous rock,

and nearer, and to the thonntains, of limestone and red
shale. Starting from Philadelphia the grade of the road
is thus, the whole distance being 94 miles :