Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1873-10-25
The Anthracite Region.

! Inc anthracite productlon OF TINS
year is, up to the present date, con-
siderably greater than that of the cor
responding period of last year. The
increase is about six hundred and sixty
thousand tons, or between four and five
per cent.
All but very small part of the an
thraeite produced in the United States
is mined in district contained within
| the limits Of seven counties of Penn
sylvania-Luzerne, Carbon, Schuylkill,
Columbia, Montour, Northumberland,
and Dauphin. The aggregate produc-
! ton of these counties in 1872 was about
nineteen million tons. According to
the census Of 1870, >their annual pro-
duction was 15,64S, 437 tons, the total
amount in the United States being
stated at Is, ,664, ,275 tons. In 1873, the
amount in these counties will probably
be about twenty million tons-an in
crease, since the taking of :, the census,
of nearly twenty-eight per cent. 1t is
not at all unlikely that by the time of
our great National Exhibition, in 1876,
the amount will be considerably over
twenty-five million tons.
| There is very common impression
that the anthracite region of Pennsyl-
vania is barren district, with little
natural wealth except that of its mines.
In regard to some parts OF it, this idea
is, to certain extent, correct. There
is a great deal of poor land in the neigh
borhood of the collieries, and besides
this, much of the country is too noun
famous for cultivation. But still, the
agricultural productions Of the counties
we have mentioned are far from being
insignificant, and are capable Of being
increased. The aggregate annual value
of their farm products was, according
to the estimates of the census, $15, ,897,-
| 728. Their total area is about 4,500
square miles. There is no richer land
in any part of the Middle States than
some that is to be found in these coun-
ties, and considerable quantity of it
is cultivated in manner that does no
discredit to the general high character
which Pennsylvania farming has so long
maintained.
There are, as might naturally be
| supposed, some very marked contrasts
between the characteristics of the min
ing and the agricultural population of
these counties. But there are two
things to be said here about the un-
favorable character in respect to orderly
behavior often attributed to the miners.
In the first place there is great differ
ence in the mining population of diff
ferent districts. There are some parts
of the anthracite region which have
always been as orderly as the most
peaceful agricultural districts of West
ern New York. In the second place,
community to make great deal of dis
turbance. Still, with all the allowance
that can be made on these grounds, it
must be acknowledged that the general
character of the mining population for
rigid sQbriety or scrupulous respect for
the rights of property, and strict
avoidance of conduct detrimental to
public and private peace and quietness,
is by no means so high as would be de-
sirable. There has, however, been of
late a marked improvement in these
matters. But one great difficulty still
remains, and there seems to be no
practicable way of removing it. The
laborers in mines have, as a general
rule, little interest in the real estate of
the neighborhood they inhabit. The
local attachments and associations
which are capable of constituting so
powerful and beneficial an influence,
must necessarily, therefore, be in a
great degree wanting.
Among the most remarkable features
of the region of which we are speaking
is its railroads The manner in which
some of it's most rugged and noun
famous parts have been penetrated by
these highways is among the most graft
flying, as it certainly is one of the most
beneficial, results of American en-
gineering. We hope, by the way, that
at the Centennial Exhibition drawings,
maps, and descriptions illustrating
what has been accomplished in this re-
spect, and the difficulties that have been
overcome, will be placed in a conspicu-
GUS and accessible position. The net
work of railroads with which the whole
district is covered is closer, we think,
than that of any area of similar size in
the United States, except, perhaps, the
vicinity of Boston. The style of work
in which the roads have been constructed
is still more worthy of notice than their
extent There is probably no set of
roads in the country where the tracks
are better laid, the bridges more sub
stantial, and the whole structure more
permanent or better finished.
Twenty years ago, the total amount
of anthracite annually mined in the re.
gion of which we are speaking was only
about six million tons, or considerably
less than one-third of what it is now.
According to the census of 1910, it was
only about eight hundred and fifty
thousand tons. The figures which
these facts suggest are startling, taken
in connection with what we have in the
former part of this article briefly shown
to be the present progress of affairs
but without relying at all upon this as
a basis of calculation for the future, the
probable necessities of the country in
dicate degree of increase in anthracite
production to which few industries of
any description are, even in this age of
progress and this land of enterprise,
likely to find parallel.--NeW York
| Times.
The Poor Buffalo.