The society of Primitive Methodists have not yet built, but worship at Odd Fellow's Hall. The Methodist Protestant congregation have no building of their own, but hold regular services at Kohn's Hall. All of these churches have Sabbath schools connected with them, which schools are said to be in a flourishing condition. New Straitsville has a Masonic Lodge, an Odd Fellows' Lodge and a Lodge of the Knights of Labor. The last named has an extraordinary list of members, said to embrace four or five hundred persons.
Coal township abounds in iron ore as well as coal.
There is a good market for the ore at Bessie Furnace, situated in the suburbs of New Straitsville. The Straitsville coal has a reputation equal to any in the State, and the output is most of the time very large. The statement is made, which is doubtless correct, that New Straitsville ships more coal than any other one point tributary to the Hocking Valley railroad. For a small, inland township, the population of Coal is very cosmopolitan. There were, a few years ago, very serious troubles at New Straitsville between the miners and operators, but latterly strikes have been of infrequent occurrence and of short duration.