Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-10-22

| q
tion should be felt for every member of the human
family.
THE RICHMOND OR TIDE WATER COAL
FIELD, WITH A MAP SHOWING ITS Elk.
TENT. ITS DISTANCES FROM TIDE-WATER
AND ITS RELATIONS TO THE CITY OF
RICHMOND.
ln order to pre'ent the Importance and advantages
Of the Richmond coal field in an attractive and forc
bic light and to draw attention to Its prominent fea
lures. its value as a manufacturing agent In oonnec
ton with the water power at Richmond, and its
proximity to he shipping on tids.wster. we have
prepared geological and typographical map, pre-
sentiDg at glance its character and extent ito res
tive position to this city, and it's connections with
our Transporting avenues.
Strange as 1t may appear, this is the frut map Of
the GOAL field that has been prepared for publication
that we aware of, aimee that Of Mcclure, In 1917
Though the Oldest coal nsd known and worked In
this country, it is still the lest to be developed or to
be made profitable. Notwithstanding is sminently
practical location for all the purposes of mining snd
transportation of coal, and for all manufacturing
purposes IL s still far behind other regions In de-
veopment, though they have been but recently
opened, and are hundreds of miles further inland,
and, therefore, located under the disadvantage of in
and transportation far the Eastern markets are
concerned on which the coal trade depends. Why
this coal field has been so long and SO culpaby neg
lected, We cannot understand; nor can we account
for the fact that 1t produces less coal than II did
ten yesrs ago, that less than lOO0 0OO tons per
mum should be produced from coal field which is Ca
pable Of furnishing 10000 tons per year for thou
sand years. and yet be far from exhausted Though We
feel the want Of cosl cheap and plentiful fuel in
the severest manner and every pursuit and every
tsrp.ise lsnguish without its aid. 1t is not because
the coal has been extracted in available localities;
glance at the map will convince that not onetenth
Of its has been developed, aud that even those
and scattering localities where mines have been
Or arc located, stl contain the greatest portion OF
their available wealth. The coal which has been ex'
,raced during the last hundred years 10 less in pro-
portion than one hundredth part Of that whieh still
remains. And that, too, which has been mined and
sent TO market, wss obtained from the edges Of the
eos field and principally from the out crops Of the
coal seams, where every miner knows the coal 10 but
partially compressed, and TO- therefore, sot and FIRE.
quenty imperfect. Indeed, the paodss operdnd', &C.
prevent the successfully working Of deep and extern
sivs mines. The question then Of quantity cannot
% doubted and the quality, though questioned, and'
Indeed, Injured in reputation by ignorance and ex-
rems carelessness, TO- in reality, suoh that 1t will
compare favorsbly with any bituminous coal now
cent TO market from any locality, under the re-
quiste cars in mining and preparing. Professor
Lyell, who examined this field carefully and
thoroughly, says, The coal is like the finest kinds
shipped at New Castle aud when analysed yields the
ssme proportion of carbon and hydrogen" At Ger.
tain depths, 10 all parts OF the coal field, we end
good, pure coal, with, however, occasional faults and
impurities, as found in all other coal regions. Al
Clover Hill, we find beautiful aud excellent article,
hard aud pursi at Midlothian and Black Hetb, VT
find the same; on the James river and the Tuckshoe,
1t moderate depths, We also fad good marketable
article, though differing in character in respects.
Indeed, from whatever locality Indifferent coal ha.
been mined il has always been from shallow basins
or from the out crops, except some Of the wes
tern portions of the Held There are. however, por
ons of the field, where elegant and useful article
found even at the out crops; those idiosyncrsses
of the formation will review in detail In the se'
que The coal then, as we shall further prove, is st
good as ,hst obtained from any coal basin whatever
and much more available than most Goals, since we
produce three varieties from the same eld-an appa
rent paradox, butt nevertheless, strictly rue In tht
6rst place we have the rich gas coal yielding IS per
cent of bitumeu the next good steam or cooking
COAL yielding Is to IS per cent of bitumep; and, sst
~ we have natural coke, having the qualities of an
hrscite. II We cannot find in those two propositions
any for the undeveoped condition OF our coal
held-the oldest known coal deposite in Americs-we
can nd none In the questions of availability for min
ing or transportation neither there be an insuf
cien market. The coal does not lie deeper than thai
| of Pennsylvania, from which most Of the coal now
consumed in this country 10 e1tracted neither Is II
deeper than the English coal, great part OF which
| is raised up from and through depth, ranging from
$40 to over 1000 feet Of perpendicular shafting and
yet The coal from those deep mines is excavsted
and made ready for market at cost of lees than one
dollar per ton. The coal here are neither small
nor insignificant, since they range from 4 to 10, and
even from % to 40 feet In thickness, and in number
from two to 6ve The means for transportation are
abundant, and superior to that of any coalhe!d
known since it 10 crossed or penetrated by four dit
fsrent lines Of railroad, and crossed by noble and
ample canal having Its mouth at tide water, only IL
miles from the Eastern edge Of the Held and this po-
sition gives preeminence. As as location con-
cerned, no coalAeld now opened in this country can
compete with it, since 10 this respect 1t Is nearer to
the markets Of both North and Seuth by 100 to 2oo
milea than those from which most of the coal 10 now
supplied; and its avenues TO market are over the
great unts1ed highways Of Nature. As far as the
thov
demand almost insatiate and under sjudicous policy
could not be supplied from present sources. The
coal trade Of the East now reaches nearly ten millions
of tons per annum. Surely we ought to produce
one tenh of that amount, since equal area of coal
formation in Pennsylvania produces half OF II at q
cost to deliver Of one dollar per ton moro than the
cost of delivering the coal from this field.
We said that We could not understand, nor account,
for The fact that the Richmond coal field still remains
undeveoped but, though there are no good and
sufficient reasons, can detect causes and infuen.
ces which operate, not only TO reard and feter our
coal mining enterprise but every pursuit and every
enterprise in the State that not only cripples indi
vidual e1erons but Ai,o the prosperity of the whole
community. We feel that this is nor the time nor
the place to dscuss those and Influences. bus
10 this connection We may euumerats feU OF them,
and leave their discussion for another and more ap
propriste occasion:
'First: We PROPOSE that the policy of the Central
Government is not such to encourage and protect
Industrial pursuits generally.
Second: That our home legislation has been IL
sufficient and often impractical.
Third No State or community can prosper. or
advance under the single pursuit Of tiDg the earth
Fourth The people, who constitute the bone and
muscle Of communities, are chiefly uneducated, and
therefore incapable Of individual enterprise.
Fifth Lack of business, or prsctical information
and enterprise the result Of previous propositions
Sixth: Want Of capital, arising from these and
various other causes.
Seventh: Dependence on others for conmerc'sI