The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-12-06
Written for The wosEINssAN's Apvo' srE.
The Origin of Coal No IS.


America the Press came before the Miner,
and recorded the developments. step by
step. Of the pioneers of the subterranesn
world. r. Virginia belongs the honor II
first opening mp the coal fields Of the
American Union The coal from the Rich-
mond field was mined as early as the year
l154, and was extensively used during the
RE, olutionary War, IN the manufa 'ture Of
shot and shell for the Patriot army
The anthracite coal Of Pennsylvania was
first used in the year lT6S, % two
brothers Of the name of Gore, hla, ksmlths
by trade They were originally ir.'" New
England. but had settled in the Wyuu ug
Valley and finding the coal exposed ou
the TANKS IF the mountains. were ted tO
ADOPT H. III place % charcoal, in their
FORCES The coal Of the Lehigh Valley
was discovered rs hunter named Philip
Gutter, IN the year 1891, while returning
home from a hunting expedition. He had
heard ~ the coal Of the Wyoming Valley
and had often looked vel about III hopes
Of discovering coal. He took some ~ The
coal home and show ed il O. his neighhols.
aud pieces Of 1t we're afterwards sent 10
Philadelphia, for the decision NJ more COM
potent Judges.
For many wears anthracite coal was used
for no other purpose than IN the black
smiths forge 1t is very difficult vt gul-
ton, and was believed tD require the Az
ton III strong blast M MAINTAIN conn
bustlon
In the year lS0s. Judge Jesse Fell of
Wilkcsbarre. conceived the idea ~ burn
ng anthracite ia common psrlor crate .
but before going tu the expense of build
iug am IRON CRATE. he resolved % make the
experiment with one constructed uf wood
The effort Was a complete success and
the Judge himself blacksmith al once
fashioned au iron CRATE, aud heuceforth
enjoyed his evenings before glowing fire
Il authrstcit, cpal The success attending
he Judges experiment Vas = matter ~
wonder to ali has ucighbnrs, whn, for many
days and weeks. throngcd from far and
near IA ms house "a witness the cumhus-
ton ~ Z stone-coal fire
Prior T. this time. efforts lad been made
10 use the stone coal Of the mountains III
Philadelphia, but without success la the
year 1903 the Lehigh Coal-mmc Com
pany, among whose members was the cele
brated Robert Morris, shipped SIX barges
Of coal from the Lehigh region @ Phila-
delphla, four Of which were lost on the
way, and the remaining two, after much
difficulty, Mere disposed Of u the city an
thorities, 10 he used as fuel for one of the
city engines But the coal could not be
made to burn In the CRATE, and was pro-
nounced to he black rocks, instead ~
coal Accordingly it was broken up into
gravel and thrown upon the sidewalks
Five years elapsed before an effort was
again made % introduce the Lehigh coal
in the Eastern cities In the year 1914,
1--WE barges were loaded at the mines, two
Of which reached Philadelphia in safety
BY this time the secret Of burning anthra-
cite coal had been discovered, and the coal
found ready sale, being disposed of Al
the rate If 81 a ton
The secret of burning this c, al was dis
covered by an accident In the year 1872,
Col Shoemaker, Of Pottsville, who owned
a coal mine iii Schuylklll county, went t.
Philadelphia with nine wagon-loads Of
coal He could find no purchasers for his
black rocks. The people Of Philadelphia
had been imposed on before, and we're now
On their guard Finally the Colonel in
duced Messrs White Il Hazard. Of the
Paramount Nail and Wire Works, to pur-
chase one load at the cost If hauling
Messrs. Mellon 4 Bishop, Of the Delaware
County Rolling Mill, took another On the
same conditions, and the other seven loads
we're left with parties q try the experi
ment of burning the coal The coal, how
ever, would no. burn, and the poor Col
onel, who had, at great expense and labor,
come all the way from Pot'sville with his
coal, WIS bitterly denounced as scoun-
drel, and it is said that writ was actually
obtained from the city authorities for his
arrest.
The workmen Of the Paramount Nail
and Wire Works had spent whole fore
noon trying to ignite the coal, and the
dinner hour arriving, they shut the fur
mace doors and went home in disgust On
returning they were utterly astonished on
beholding a glowing fire, the furnace doors
being red-hot. and the furnace itself al
most melting. Here. then, was the secret
discovered All former efforts had been
directed III assisting the fire by poking and
stirring real assistance lay in letting il
alone The news Of this success soon
spread abroad, and the formerly despised
black rocks at once rose IN commercial inn
portance and value They we're Goals AZ
ter all.
The foundation of the anthracite coal
trade was now laid The efforts Of cap
italists were AZ once directed to perfecting
the navigation Of the Lehigh and Della
ware rivers In 1920 the improvements
were 50 far completed that coal was ship
ped to Philadelphia without serious risk
The first railroads III the United States
were coal roads TO the mines. The road
from Mauch Chunk to the Summit Mines,
constructed in 1927, was followed by the
Lehigh 4 Susquehanna Railroad. The
Schuylkill region was partially opened III
1922, and in 1925 coal boats were sent
from Pottsville to Philadelphia, The mid
die coal field of the Shamoken region
came later into prominence, and it was not
until 1889 that shipments were made.
This important coal region occupies less
than 500 square miles, but more than one
half t,ie coal on the American continent il
annually raised from the mines. They are
located in the midst of an immense popu-
lation, possessing the interior lines to
market Of all other mining regions Of the
American Union. This coal, for many
purposes is Of more practical value than
the bituminous qualities. Twenty mil
lions Of people depend on the anthracite
coal mines Of Pennsylvania for their coal
supply-and these vast changes have all
been brought about within the past fifty
years.
The -bituminous mines u the Mary
land coal region we're not of any practical
value to the mining adventurer until after
the completion Of the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad, to Cumberland, in 1912 Through
shipments were made down the Potomac
in barges as early as 1920. The coal in
this region is exposed in many places along
its lines of outcrop, and its existence must
have been known TO the aar,iest sattlaru