Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1855-05-18
GRIFFITH
[coRsEsPoSpEyCE OF the rRE, rRrss.l
From the Quaker City.
The Coal Trade Of Ph,lodeipb,o.

pHtIAnytputA Nav 49,;
To a.. E5,,o, NJ N, FIR, p,,,,
Carving coal, to Newcastle. has long b.cn
proverb Int oarrvng coel, IN pbiIdoInbi, would h.
hardly les. e1pre.,ivo The stranger who visits
the city, or burricdly pn,,e. tbroucb il secs ,,lc
to mark it prominently . coal trading nlaco lie.
indeed meet, coal evorv vbore . zoos ,,orcio.
Nth hale bu,boI ,or,r,os =. ,Lo ,,ax l.; H. ,..,,
crowded and busv stree,s finds i, scattered nv the
vav. and almost omniprcsent vc. il. rrcscnce
seem. t, be for consumption rather than for traffic
But let him take an omuibu. at the Exchange, and
after a ride Of about four mile. up the Delaware
visit Port Richmond, and lie will realize, in some
measure, the amount Of interest which Philadelphia
has in the coal trade, and from that as point of
departure, obtain faint idea Of the resources Of
that valuable mineral, which Pennsylvania Losses
ses At this point, entirely above the crowded
wharvcs which line the stream, at the city proper.
the Philadelphia and Reading railroad NAV, almost
without figure Of speech, be said to emrty
This road, leaving the PRINCIPAL coal ,toducinc
places of the south basin or coal field. follows the
schuylkll, and leaving i, about a mile and 4 half
above Paramount crosses. bv short run Of three or
four miles, to the Delaware at Richmond. The
latter stream it approaches nearly at right angles
at It's terminus begins 10 divide ana subllylle
spreading its track on either side, until it would
seem that some Polypheme or perchance old father
Neptune himself had increased the number of teeth
in his trident many fold and laid i, on shore to
guide coal wagons. These track. are in pairs each
pair running to, and then over separate wharf
which projects into the stream some two hundred
feet.
On reaching the railroad grounds, the attention
is at once attracted by the forest Of musts, which
skirt. the river, and the nerminable lines Of small
black cars which appear to cover background These
cars arc usually single or four wheeled, carrying
about eight tons. They sometimes made of
wood, but otener Of plate ron and in all have
their sides sloped inwarls, like rectangular funnel
or hopper, to false bottom, which opens between
the axe,, and is closed by chain, held fast by
ratchet wheel and dog. The number Of these cars,
and the constant activity kept up among them by
two or three peripatetic engines, shriekng and
coughing, as they pull or push this way and that,
engaged in distributing or making up the trains.
which almost continually arrive and depart. make
the place, at little distance, decidedly resemble
huge ant hill.
The extent of river front taken ply the Sharvcs,
which Mt present number eighteen, is, as nearly as
c"uiu Juusc, something more imam thlrd OF nile
They are not occupied by the corporation, but are
leased to private individuals or firms, who are idcn
uenl with companies at the mines or connected
with them. The railroad Is simply carrier from
the mines to the whurves. Each wharf has two
tracks laid upon framework some fifteen feet high,
heavily timbercd and planked. As the cars pass
along this framework, they arc made to discharge
themselves, through spaces left in the pankiug,
either upon the wharves, or, by means OF suce-
ways or chutei, properly arranged, directly into
the holds OF vessels moor'd alongside The coal
which Is received by the chutes, Is weighed in the
cars JUST before the dl'eharge that win IS laden
from the "hari Is weighed IN the oarfow' winch are
used TO move II on board In the latter case much
OF the slate, which would he weighed and received
from the cars Is picked out and thrown aside
1t will readily be seen, from this brief descrip-
ton, that the facilities Afforded for shipping coal,
are Immense Tho vessels employed in the trade
carry from two hundred to seven hundred tons
although only about five hundred tons can he got