The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1854-02-01

=. ~ he fayAr Esfsfe ga fh9fhHa tc'ssfy'
!, NC.
Nrw Yosl. srpi. q. 1883.
y. w. GAssssS. ESQ.
nEAR SIR: In compliance with your
wishes 1 have examined the caal mines
on the iIaughton Estate at the Gulf On
Deep River. in Nerih Carolina, and
have now the honor Of offering 10 YOU
nv repart.
II will not be necessary for nv pre-.
sent purpose to describe the general
geology Of the district. fur that | have
already prepared Tor the public in an
other Iepori. shall therefore confinr
myself 10 remarks ON the particular
mines in which you are interested.
These mines have been long and Ia
vorably known, and hayeibeen wrought
by Messrs. J. & l.. llaughton, 20 sup
PLY the local demand for c. al at the
smiths shops. For want of ready
and cheap conveyance 10 foreign or
coast market, no great amount of coal
has ever been taken out. and only open
cuts or pits have been sunk Tor that
purpose. The ncsro miners. after un-
covering the coal at the outcrop. hew
il out with an atye or with nattock.
thus cutting all the coal fine, 50 as TO
suit the smiths forge. The exposures
Of the bed thus made by this rude me-
thod Of mining. have afforded me am.
pie opportunities for examining the
coal over considerable area Of ground.
in numerous pits along the line Of out
crop; the aggregate thickness of the
workable beds is about 6 feet, and there
are two distinct beds in juxiaposition
with very thin stratum &C shale be.
tween them, as in the case Of the Far
mersville mine lower down the River.
The following sketch is sectional
view of one Of the sides of a coal pit
now wrought on this estate.
| Here is diagram, representing Il
inches Of shale, then feet Of coal, then
II inches shale, succeeded by ,. feet Of
coal. Dip South.eastward S0o.
u Another pit near to this shows l..
coal nearly horizontal. and anot.:
where the din is but l0o, these bcih-
mere local Irregularities like the waves
Of the strata.
j took some samples Of the coal
which the negroes hewed up. and have
examined with view to its cconomi-
cal usefulness find tito be highly BIZ
, luminous cooking coal, nearly free from
: sulphur and suitable for all the uses to
, which the best bituminous Goals are APP
piled. Ii takes fire readily, burns free.
: ly, softens and swells into an adhesive
. bulky aud good cake; continues toburn
well after il has ceased 10 blaze, and
] gives out no odor of sulphydric acid
: gas when the warm coke is moistened.
: In the forge saw il used successful
" in "laying" the steel into an axe,
aud observed that the welding was per-
fectly effected. This is as good test
as smith could desire.
i From observations on its burning and
from blow pipe trials Of it, | should es-
teen it good coal for gas making, and
believe it has been approved Of bv
those who have tried it in making gas
! for illumination on large scale.
!, The ANALYSIS Of this coal made by the
, late Professor Walter II. Johnson proves
it ttubeof excellent quality for steam en-
!, gine furnaces, and for ali ordinary uses
TO which fat bituminous coal is ap-
piled.
i There is no question then as to the
quality of the coal itself, and | shall
: next inquire it there is an adequate
!. supply in the land in question to war
j rant the erection Of works for CARRYING
on regular coal mine.
/, This question am able to answer
affirmatively, and in the language of
' Professor Emmons the State Geologist
. of N. Carolina, must say, eff the
! thickest seam of coal is worked, which
c has thickness Of feet exclusive Of a
9 thin band of strata, it will give for ey>
ii cry square yard Of surface 2 square
!, yards of coal. A Asquare acre has 1900
superficial yards. hence there will be
| $500 square yards Of coal in each acre.
, and US a square (cubic) yard Of coal
NciSHS tuH, tuCiC viii UC iUT tNtTN
acre 9, 800 tons OF coal" Annual Re-
port Of General Survey Of North Caro-
, lima, by Prof. Emmons, 1852, page
/, l52.
/ The precise extent of area Of the
5 lIaughton coal land ! do not know, but
We may safely estimate the width OF
the track in the direction Of the dip,
as not less than half mile and its
I length as not less than mile. Ii lam
. wrong your title deeds will correct me.
, Now Professor Emmons calculates
. that square mile Of this coal bed will
E give 6,272,OOO tons of coal, and YOU
E probably can command half that amount
Y ON the lands you have leased, il the dip
{ becomes moderate SO that you can fol-
{ low the coal for the distance of half a
n mile toward the river.
i. Without going farther into calcula,
1 ions, which, made in the study orin ths
! counting room. are too apt to prove i'm
practicable results, | would state NV