The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-08-22
from the New York Daily BnlIetn.I
Onr Coal and %Iron-Their Future De-

G-N
onx Coal and Tron-Their Future De-
veloprnents. : 1.S''
The great difficulty Iii the way of our com.
peting with Great Britain In the irontraade
mas been, In the first place, the high cost OF
coal, and next the high wages OF iron
workers, and, we may also add, the large
OUTLAWS involved In the purchase of both
coal and iron-lands, and the great depth at
which the deposits have to be mined. This
Is true especially of the coal and iron.fieIds
Of PENNSYLVANIA, the main source Of our
supply of both these minerals. All our
progress within late years has been m1de
In spite Of these difficulties, and has
arisen almost exclusively from our having
made more improvements than our English
competitors in the methods of treating ores
or In the appliances for manufacturing iron.
Approaching the stubborness of these OBJ
~stacies, we have counselled moderation on
The part Of our Pennsylvania coal and iron
producers In their efforts to capture trade
from Great Britain pending the present
crisis In those trades; deeming it uncertain
how far d reaction in England might enable
producers there to compete with us as effec-
lively rs heretofore. -
The successful struggle with England for
supplying u W iron market. and possi-
bly, also for supplying many foreign stations
with coal, is not to be won on the fields of
Pennsylvania, but In a district where nature
more favors us in the contest. Rich as Penn
s~ylvania unqricstionably Is In both coal aid
iron, yet competent surveys have.Ied to the
conclusion that the bituminous coal-bcds
which underlie portions of that State do not
exist there in their greatest thickness
and accessibility, but I'll on into the
kanawha region, aud there crop out
on the surface In much greater rich
ness and thickness. At Cannelton, on
the kanawha, Il scam Of coal appears five
feet four inches thick, Which, from its geo
logical acCOmpaniments, is demonstrated to
be the identical vein known as the "UpDer
Freeport " of Pennsylvania, which there is
only three feet six inches in thickness: below
that vein is q tive-fOot seam, which, from its
position, is proved to be the CLOVER Free
port" Of Pennsylvania. there two to three
feet in thickness and in the same vicinity a
vein of gas-coal crops out, the geological po-
sition of which is identical with that of the
hittaning bed mined on the Allegheny.
Says Professor Thomas S. Ridgway, whose
competency as a geologist and mineralogist
none will dispute: "The bituminous coal
measures of West Virginia and Western
pennsylvania are parts of the same great
Upper Ohio coal basin the portion COM
prised within West Virginia, embracing
the southeast portion Of Il central section,
containing the seams Of coal thicker. and
of q better quality, than in PENNSYLVANIA,
as will be seen by comparing some of the
rocky strata and seams of coal common to
the bituminous coal territory of both States"
In Pennsylvania these seams have to be
reached at great depths, and by a consequent
heavy outlay in sinking and working the
shafts; while in Virginia they crop out on
the surface close to and even overhanging
the line of railroad and the river boats. No
| where. in fact, can nature have done more
towards economy in mining. On Newriver
and on the Kanawha successive seams pro.
trudc, varying from one foot to eight feet each
| in thickness, and with an aggregate depth
| of 90 to 6j feet; these veins all having sur
| face openings on the existing route of
transportation.
The first economy connected with these
coal deposits, as compared with the like
seams in Pennsylvania, is in the cost of the
lands, which is from one-tenth to One-tWen-
| tieth of that paid in the Cumberland and
! anthracite regions; next, in the capital re-
| quired for working the mines, the sinking
| of deep shafts and the planting of extensive
machinery being unnecessary on the large
extent of veins opening Oh each side OF the
| kauawha and New rivers; and next, in the
lower rates of wages paid, an Unlimited
supply of negro labor being available ut %
| to IS per cent. below the scale adopted in
| the PENNSYLVANIA collieries. These facts
| must tell immensely in favor of c%lleapenipg
| the cost of producing coal. The supply of
onol ,,I,;,l, ,,n ha tl,I1c phpu nly U,nrkptl *
| absolutely ineXhaustible. On this point
| Professor Ridgway remarks:
"Any attempt to estimate by calculation
the amount Of coal contained within Il given
| number of miles Of the road chesapeake
and Ohio railroad) would be futile. Without
decming it necessary to resort to a trigonO-
metrical survey of even Il small portion of
the field, it is quite obvious, even to the
practiced miner, that there are above the
water-leyel, between Big Sewell mountain
and Charleston, aCithin flee miles on e'lher
side of the line of your road, thousands Of
| millions of tons. The same seams could, OF
course, be reached by pits of moderate
depth between Chal lesion and Huntington:
| and the amount of coal available from West
| Virginia is incidentally large-sutficlent,
| allowing for a normal ratio of increase in
| consumption, to supply the western markets
for a thousand years to come"
So far as respects the importance of these
| coal deposits TO the iron trade, it is one thing
to have the coal produced clcaply Isl to
81 % per ton being the cost at which 1t can
he put ON the cars, and it is quite another at
| what price it can be delivered.at the iron
furnaces. Fortunately, in this case, large
| deposits Of iron ore of every description
necessary to the production of the finest iron
or steel lie closely contiguous TO the coal de-
posts. The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad
runs through the heart of the iron region,
and makes q connection between the coal.
beds and the iron-bedS Of 100 to 100 miles
so that either the ore can he carried to the
coal, or uce Uersa, at Il very slight cost.
Large MASSES of iron ore OF The heinatite,
argiIlaccous, magnetic, and tossilliterOus de-
scriptionS are exposed at the surface. The
ores generally are rich, and those found on
the line of the railroad can be mined and
placed ON the ears for $l.25 to $l.50 per ton.
For the manufacture of charcoal iron the
facilities are equally favorable to economy
for the lands are covered with forest, and
the supply of cheap coiored labor is all that
could be desired for the production of this
kind Of fuel; so that the owners of an iron
mine might find on their lands all that their
furnaces would consume for years. AS the
general result Of these advantages, it is esti'
mated that pig-iron can be made at a sure
and liberal profit for eighteen to twenty dol,
lars per ton.
1t is impossible to conjecture what may be
the future of a country thus literally sup
piled by nature with all the elements for the
production Of the best iron undcr the most
economical conditions. Comparing these
conditions with those existing in Pennsylva.
mia, it becomes evident that mining capital