The Greenville enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1870-1873, 1871-07-19
! A Burning Coal Nine.

SSoA Aluos
> Alter the tourist has taken N
!, S"cnauting ride over the Sw;,ni
y back, at Summit Hill a San, "MGl ,:SI
9 sSJ ysyGnd Manch Chunk, Pa..) he !;
,sauy 70 look with interest nno, m
! .ne oId fashioned looking town -,
? portion of which is underio;d , =
3 tne ignited coal. The Are wo. =. :
discovered ,h till the early nar. ~ y
sne year 1889. when it had aIresd, l.
: ,hade considerable progress. 7, !
, .ne general opinion thai II was - ~, y
: mo,;.. mo,k OF an incendiary, but tn, M
motive that a person could ban' ,,'
> toas would induce him to set fir,
; 70 q valuable mine, cans;nr ,h' '
destruction of thousands oe AZ, .h'
o,',r. worth Of valuable property. car
only only oe surmised. /. may s., tLa, G
some thirty or forty years % hou .na'
when the lire has died ont and oace' .e
~ s.;I9 o., interest in regard to it. We ~,
viii bc startled by The confsss;"e we
q some ancient but time.softeno,;
sinner, wso will give the full uu rar.
.'cplars bnt VIC must wait III,
sseh' The excitement at the time
OF the breaking out of the fire wos
considerable, but coal rnininn Was
TINS ,hls country had not then attained
tue magnitude that it now posses.
ses, ana fires i'm the m;nos
.nen almost unknown. Tic min
;n e'S mad had as yet had no experience
,n mem, and a very simple, in fact
entirely too simple, means Of er
''ngnlshing the fire was adontoG
a., -as. "a aam a. Of timber was built
ac, 9ss the gaugway, of but little
more strength tLen a partition bE
tween two rooms. This was in
tended to retain .,,- ..v., " Su,u m
,'"' !, m, 'ainly be extinguished by
:. Ibe theory was good, but u,:.
fortunately when the water rose to
; considerable height the dam
gave was before it's pressure. A
second dam was immediately
;eu, gut IL met with the same
are as the first. It was then do.
''oed to build a dam. which wonId
lot 4 d, DO bnrsted by all the pressure
NAT could be brought to bear on
oy the waters Of the mine. Four
ee1 were cut of solid coal in the
op, sides and bottom of the gang.
way, a solid structure of OAK
trong as a canal lock, was erected !
mo clay was packed in behind il
or ,h" space of ten feet. Tho wa.
er e oao's "r oeainst tl,is. but now
he water WAS pnt tho aSonessFr ~ ~ |
truction. The fire had made a
Ietonr through the coal, and had G
nveloped the dam on all sides. &
ave one, and OH that was the wa J
er. No human structure could !
xlst in snch a conflict of the ele.
nents. 1t WAS earth against fire, 9
Vater and air, and earth succuInb.
q. The dam having given way, g
he fire soon reached the mouth of .
he slope, ond all hopes of extin.
it were given mp. r
Since that time tho mine has '
zen closed. Tie fire will burn :.
ut, but will certainly not be ex. =
ingnished in any other way. Oc. +,
small tracts of land fall =,
nto the fiery furnace below. The .
fleets of the fire and its accompa 8
'ylng heat are almost well shown 4.
!ere as at Vesuvius ard x'na.-
Inc rocks are baked, and are of ,,
many shades of color; they have !
hanged their siratified position, ,
nd are inclining in every direc. !,
ion. Bnt perhaps the most inter. .
sting Of all are the changes .
brought in the rocks containing .
ron ryrites (Fe. Q, S. The py- =
ties have been heated in the prox. :
nifty of steam, which caused them =.
o become soluble water; they
'are then been dissolved out Of =
9 rocks, leaving perfectly cubi. 7
al, glazed cavities in the solid !
ock, giving to it honey .combed
[Ne0 York. Evangelist. il