The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-08-22
Anthracite Coal-Its Discovery and
Use

We have grouped together the following
facts says ''SGtrdrfs" journal that are in
teresting, and not generally known.
The first authentic accOInt Of the dis
covery and practical use Of Anthracite coal
u IN l76S- 50, when It appears that two
blacksmiths from Connecticut, by the name
Of Core, who had settled III Wyoming Val
ley, used 1t regularly in their forge
In l116 coal was taken in arks down the
Susquehanna to the arsenal at Carlisle,
Penna., and this continued during the war;
it was quarried from the locality now
known as the Baltimore mines above
Wilkesbarre, and the " smith mine, near
Plymouth. Ii vas not used until 1905 in
CRATE, OF for domestic purposes at this
date (Feb. IL, 1905, Judge Jessie Fell, of
MIlkesbarre, made coal fire ia an open
CRATE at his house, to the surprise of the
neighbOrs
We have record Of the price being -
per ton at MilKesbarre ia 1890, and $S
@S9 at Marietta, on the SusquehanIra, in
1914. The coal trade OF this valley did
not expand 50 rapidly as that 81 the later
developed Lehlgh and Schuylkill regions On
account of the difficulty of reaching the
markets on the Atlantic seaboard.
The traditional account If the first dis
covery Of Anthracite coal in the Schuylkill
region is the year 1890, when Nick Allen,
Or the Black Yankee" hunter, found
at the foot of Broad Mountain, stone coal
which burned. The next notice is in the
transactions Of the Coal Mining Associa-
tion Of Scnuylklll Co., IN which it is stat
ed that a blacksmith named Milestone
had used 1t III his smithy in 1895. About
the year 1890 William Morris sent wagon
load to Philadelphia, but they would not
buy 1t OF have anything 10 do with 1t he
retired from the business in disgust. In
1906 they found some good coal =
and then it grew IN repute and general use.
In 1912 Col Shoemaker took nine wag-
on loads to Philadelphia, it was put in the
furnace at Fairmount Nail Works but
they did not shut the doors, and it would
not burn dinner time arrived and they
shut the doors in disgust and went off /;
returning they found the furnace doors
red hot, and the " stone coal within a
white heated glowing mass. This showed
how it was to be handled, and thenceforth
coal was IN general use.
Regarding the discovery Of Anthracite
coal in the Lehigh region, we find that in
the year 1871 Phillip Ginter, a hunter of
that vicinity, discovered coal on Bear
Mountain, about nine miles west Of Mauch
Chunk, Pa, where the village OF Summit
Hill IS now located. One day, after a
poor season and wet with rain, he struck
his foot against a stone it was nearly
dusk, but bright enough to show that it
black and shiny. He had often heard of
stone coal over in 'Wyoming and look
ing round found black dirt aud many pieces
Of stone coal under the roots Of a tree that
had been blown down. He took them
home and afterward to Col. Jacob Weiss,
at Fort Allen, (Allentown) who offered to
pay him for his discover if he would point
out its position 1t was finally agreed
to give a tract of land and water privil-
edge for a saw-mill and Col. Weiss and
others the following year founded the
"Lehigh Coal Mine Co.