The Lincoln County herald., 1871-07-13
4 frip 10 Tho CoN Mines,

lessfs. Voolfolk, Murphy, McLellas, |
3rovs aus SorsoA. ~ Sisitse for the
irst timo %ks much .sslksd Of coal mines
4 this county. Yhe 6vst wa ssuc 70
vas about Eve m.les frou ysoy, a. d..
land. A shal Gas sunk at
'his point a fes years since. and consid'-
,rabls coat, which, was pronounced Of
good quality, ssiseA sua disposed o.
The veis was snly . Tee sees from the
surface. and as there are sone indications
Of an uphcavai Of the earth where She
shaft was sunk, the msiS veis is sup
posed to be deeper. The shaft wac slled
wish water, and the few specimens OBJ
tanned mere wcsp from tho surface. Al
though they had long been exposed to
the air snd water, they we're solid and
presented q 6ne appearance. The party
inspected slong Slavens' branch . few
hundred yards, aud BY removing tho sand
and top soil "coal blossoms" were dis
covered in various places. There were
also pecked up specimens Of lime stouo,
which so nearly resemblsd the pure lime
that our party we're Of opinion that q
lime kiln had been burned near: but on
coming up to Ms. Slavens, the old gen.
tleman informed us that no kiln had
been burned there within his recollection,
nigh on to forty.threo year" Mr..
Slaveus 10 one of our Oldest citizens, hav.
|isg come " this State in 1919. Al
though he is now about eighty yesrs old,
he can read without specs, is very com.
muuicative, and has retained his faculties
to remarkable degree. After parting
with him, We we're informed that he was
a soldier in tho War of 1872, and that .
short time since he came to town to
apply for tho pension offered BY the gov
ernmcnt to all the surviving veterans OF
tha. memorable struggle. After reading
the oath of super loyalty which . Rad.
ical Congress has seen 6t to impose upon
these aged defenders of their country,
the old gentleman said he couldn't sub.
lscribe to it, and hence is cheated out oil
q deserved pension BY uaguauinous e,
and fanatically loyal party.
The next point visited by tho part.
was shaft on the Link farm, about tel
miles from Troy, which was recent!
opened BY the Lincoln County Goa
Company. Hero we found Col. Vernon
who had been apprised of our visit
busily engaged in having the waite
pumped out Of the shaft, that We nigh
give it a thorough inspection. Severa
of US went down into tho pit, which
about forty feet deep, where We saw
vein Of solid bitunen fully six feet thicl
while above US were layers Of an inferio
: quality, shale, slate. ETC., about eight
ten feet in thickness. A huge block
= coal was raised out Of this shaft Will
We were there. which we we're assure
was equal to the Pittsburg in qualit!
J. and the best that has yet been discovere
e west Of the Mississippi river. Alon
= the crooks "blossoms" or "cropPinf
out" we're numerous, indicating an inte
e minsble bed of COAL. We visited anoth'
}. shaft now being sunk few hundred yar'
2 from the one just named, which howev'
was not more than fifteen or twenty fe
. doep, and to an Impractical eye the
= = was no appearance Of the jetty miner'
y, Then We went to the Upsou mine
~ where two shafts wero open, and out
. which most Of the coal that has be-
used in Troy was taken. The first
Or these has been mined back into bill
n least forty feet, and furnishes about 4
o. same quality Of coal ss the one on I
St Link farm, though the vein is sol
IN thicker. The second has been work
oe back to . depth Of about seventy fe
O. and in it are three distinct layers
'ic veins of coal, each several feot thick
as the first canal, the second bituminous =
ut the third block, the latter being tho b
OF for smelling purposes.
he Other shafts arc being sunk BY
H. company, but as evening was drawi
n near our party concluded to return no
in without visiting them, being satisfied IL
be the coal region Of tAs county was bet
NJ than il was at 6rst reported.
lis The company own about 4, 900 acres
this laad, and it 10 generally belie'
D. that all, or nearly all, is imbeded "
,is coal-enough to last Eve or six gene
cot tions. We found Mr.. Vernon, who
be one of the leading gentlemen Of the &C
W. pany, affabls and obliging, and he sceu
n >I~..~,o IN .ho.;nn arnu