The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-12-20
The Origin of Coal No. IA.
rue GOAL REGIONS OF ohio.
ny ANDEsS ROY

Allegheny coal field exists in the State II
OHIO. Along the line Of out crop Of the
basin, the lower GOALS are extensively min
ed, the greatest mining region being that
Of the Mahoning valley, description Of
which was given in the preceding paper.
At Akron, in Summit county, and MassIi-
Ion IN Stark county, the lower bed-coal
NO j, OF the Ohio geological survey, the
same seam as the Briar Hill and Mineral
Ridge GOALS Of the Mahoning Valley, is
opened PIP and vigorously mined. In these
districts the coal loses much II its purity.
and Is seldom iii for the blast furnace in its
raw state In the south eastern part Of
Ohio, az jacksonville, number Of open
lngs have been made in the same seam. and
here the coal is al magnificent quality
fully equal % the best varieties Of the Ma
honing region.
Along the line Of the Ohio river. where
the basin pr the lowest place IT the coal
measures Of the Allegheny coal field is
found, the upper Goals IF the series are
mined At Bellarr. Steubenville ana P1me-
roy. Al Bellair the mines are mainly slope
Or arltt openings, but at Steuheuville and
farther down the river shaft mining is re-
sorted tn, the shafts ranging from $50 u
5Oo feet Of perpendicular depth. The mines
n the Steubenvllle district abound in fire.
lamp, and several explosions have occurred
since they were opened examined the
leading mines at Steubenville two wears
ago, while acting as State Mining Commis-
sloner, and found the art Of ventilation
well understood, and brought into practic-
al operation BY the mine superintendents
VI" were originally English miners from
the deep and fiery mines Of Great Britain.
The AIR was split into two separate streams
At the bottom Of the shaft, each stream
'ranerslng separate division Of the mine.
"heh ooth returning, they were reunited.
anu sent INTO the up-cast shaft. with all
thelr impurities, 70 be delivered into the
open air.
The Pomeroy coal region has been omen
ri up Tor upwards of forty wears. the coal
being reached by ordinary drift MINING
The principal mines are owned and oners-
ted by Messrs V. b Horton & ca The
man ana side entries are all double, being
pierced through at intervals Of forty wards,
ior the purpose Of maintaining a viaerous
current Of air throughout the various ram
lheations OF the mine The coal seam Of
HN.ua
TINS region Is hnely adapted to long wall
working manner Of coal mining no
where ~ yet practiced in the State az Ohio
or ~ the United States. excent in tho
blossburg mines Of Pennsylvania. and in
one or two localities in Illinois. In tba
mines Of Pennsylvania no inAamable air
IS evoked from the coal strata, the roof il
Tree IRON water, no rivers or valuable build-
Ihgs are near the working while plenty of
ruoDlsh, slack and other job waste materi-
ais could be procured, to choke the crush
ol the superintendent strata. In the great
coal regions Of the old world, long wall is
the favorlte method, being employed ex-
tenslvely IN the workings Of Shropshire
Lelcestershlre and Derbyshire. in England
IN many parts of Scotland and Wales and
also IN Belgium and in Saxony
Forty miles south Of Columbus aIong
the line OF outcrop Of the coal measures.
tiiere e4lsts noble coal seam, whose couu-
IerPart is no where found in the State At
NeisonVlile. on the Hooking river, the coal
Is SIX ieet thick, f'Jt at Streaterville. only
Twelve miles south Of Nelsonville, il rises
% the magnificent height of fully eleven
feet; The coal is found above the base of
the nils, and can be reached by ordinary
rNNaUNa
urlit openings. Nature has done every
thing that the heart Of the practical miner
could desire in this coal region the roof
is good, being hard, compact grew sbale /.
the coal Is easy to undercut, and No side
work or shearlng is needed. The coal ex-
ISIS IN these layers the lower one being
about twenty-five inches thick. the middle
one q the same height while in the Strea-
tersVlle district the upper stratum is fully
seven ieet IN thickness. The miner goes
underneath with the first and second Law
efs ior several feet, then coming back re
gives shot into the upper coal, and spreads
masses enough before to keep him loading
LOT whole day.
Illls mining region is destined TO become
one Of the great mining regions of Ameri-
ca The Streatersville and Shawnee mines
nave been but recently opened, and it is
truly wonderful TO contemplate the vast
changes which have been wrought among
the sterile hills within the past three wears.
IN Iodl there was not a single mine opened
nor single building erected at New Strea-
tersvllle. In March Of last year the same
was true of Shawnee. To-day these villa
ges contain a population of / 800 to 2. 900
souls. The sites of these towns could have
been bought three years ago for $40 an
acre to-day village lots command as high
as $1,000 and 1900 an acre. Last wear
these mines produced no less that half &
million tons of coal, and are capable Of
sending to market in 1874, if wrought 10
their fullest capacity, upwards of ono mil
lion tons.
The coal of the Streatersville district 4
like the coal of the Mahoning region. ad
apted TO the smelling of iron in a raw state.
II Is, however, incorporated, to a greater
or lesser degree, with sulphur, but careful
chemical analysis by the distinguished
chemist, Prof. Wormley, of Columbus, as
well as practical experiments in he blast
furnace itself, have demonstrated that the
sulphur escapes in the combustion of the
gases, and does not iniure the metal in the
blast. The coal is not as rich in carbon as
the coal of the Mahoning valley, but It
more then compensates for these deposits
BY its greater thickness and regularity of
existence What Ia wanted is cheap trans