The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1850-02-23
Coal Mines in the United States.


The papers are tcemng with accounts of dis
cOyeres of mines at tins valuable article, IN all
parts Of the country--on the shores Of the Missis
'ippi, in the State Of Alabama, in the State Of
Massachusetts, and new again in Rhode lsland--
The bristol FhrHir Or. L. announces the oI,en-
ing of n win Of anthracite in that town. by the
sinking of a well, at the depth Of fourteen feet
below the surface. There cun be no doubt that
Rhode Island contains within il limits extensive
fields Of coal, that viii become Of the highest i'm
portauce IA the fuTtlcrancc and support of her
nl.l uicturlng Interests and Goa. Of Il qu.,lit -
qual 10 any found in the country.
The recent discovery that semi bituminous Goa,
OF the Dauphin county (PLl mines may b. used
tor fuel III locomotives, gives an additional inter.
est to any information concerning the supply Of
coal which may be obtained from mines in the
United States as well as the uses to which the
yarious descriptions may be applied. Until the
middle of the last century, nearly the whole Of
the great basin If the Mississippi, the valley of
the Ohio, and the western slope Of the Alleghauy
nountains-cousututmg the great central coal
held OF Ancrlci-werc partially occupied by the
Indians. THIS vast region was held TO be Of so
little value, that its acquisition did not influence
the arrangements made at various times by Wm.
Penn and h.q family and afterwards BY the pro
| pretares. BY the treaty cf 1868, the latter be
came possessed of nearly the whole area of the
coal land of Pennsylvania for the sum of $4,000,
and about that time the presence Of coal seems to
have hr-t became known In 1928, the first ca =
goes from the Allcgllany coal fields reached Phil
adelphia, and it was more than ten years later be-
foIc ii came to be used to any considerable extent
in New England, where hundreds Of thousands of
tons are now used annually. The coal regions Of
America are, from the explorations which have
thus fur been made supposed 70 be divided into
three principle masses the great central tract,
extending from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to the west
If Pennsylvania, and being apparently resumed
in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; the second
track strike, northvestwari from Kentucky, eros
ses the Ohio, and stretches through Illinois to the
Ml-sIsslppi TEer u third region, smaller than the
others lies between the three great lakcs-Elie,
Huron and Michigan Competent gcolog1ts af-
iirin that from comparison of the coal strata Of
contiguous basins these are more than detached
parts Of once continuous deposit.
The extent of thi, enormous coal field is in
length from n, L. to 5. W, more than 72O miles,
and its greatest breadth about 50 miles its area,
upon moderate calculation, amounts to $4,000
square mlle, In addition to these there are sew
eral detached troughs of nntracite in Eastern
Pennsylvania, which form some Of the most re.
marknble coal tracts in the world They occupy
an area Of about 300 square miles. The strata
which constitute this vast deposit, comprehend
nearly all the known varieties uf coal from the
dryest and most compact all,racite, to the most
fUslble and com bustiblo camel coal One Of the
most remarkable features Of these coal seams is
ther proligious bulk The great bed Of Pitts.
burg extending nearly the entire length of the
Monongahela river, has been traced through a
great elliptic area of nearly 225 miles in it, long.
est diameter, and u maximum breadth of about
100 mi,es-the superficial extent being 1900
square mles-thc thickness Of the bed diminish.
ing gradually from II or II feet 10 feet. In
lSi', the antracite coal regions of pcnns, lvania
furnished 100000 tons, and ll,I39 vessels
cleared from Philadelphia in that year loaded
with the article. The produce in ls4S and the
present year is If course larger
The btuminous coal area of the United States
is l33,l32 square miles, or lii part Of the whole
known. The bltrunuus coal area Of British A.
merca Is $4,000 square miles, or l.I5th part
France. l,Il9 square miles or II 18th part AMI
Belgium 3 Is sgunrc miles, or ll22d part Tie a.
rea Of the Pennsy lyanIa anthracite cusl f,rna.
tions, is put down at 43T square miles Tie an.
thracte coal Of Great Britain and Ireland howpv.
er, is not near valuable an article of fuel rs the
anthracite coal of Penn-y lyanip nor does a given
area yield near much a. the latter
From the ab,y statistics, our readers may
form some idea Of the vast quantity # fuel which
the coal fields Of the United States are capable IT
DE and their value is bcyonl computation The
California gold mines sink into in,isnifc,mce when
compared to them.-ELprcSs