Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1875-06-05


The largest and most valuable of the ser
les OF the scmi-bituminous coal regions of
America is the Cumberland or Frostburg
coal field Of western Maryland 1t is
bounded by Dams mountain on the east and
by Savage mountain on the west, and DOS
seSscs an average width of six miles,
l"ngthwise it extends from the Pcnnsy Viva
MIA state line, north of Mount Savage. in
soulh-Wcsterly course, to the north branch
OF the Potomac river in western Virginia,
| Tor nearly 30 miles, and contains fully 100
! square miles Of area. The aggregate thick
ness Of the coal bearing rocks in the lowest
parts OF the basin is about LOO feet.
There are upwards OF thirty different seams
OF coal in this basin, aggrcgating nearly 10
feet; only three or four of Them however,
are OF workable height This coal basin is
remarkable for the regularity OF its for
nation and the parallclism of its coal
seams There is not single dislocation of
the strata iii its whole extent, and the vari-
Gus tc,s OF coal hold perfectly parallel rca
tons to each other. v hcrcycr one seam is
divided from another by 90 or 100 feet of
strata as the case may be, the same relations
"r4 Geaerly found to exist in every ether
par, of the basin
Inc prlncirai seam OF coal mined, called
the Dig Vein is from 81 to II feet of thick
ness. AT the northern end Of the field il is
thlnn 81, and 1t gradually tlclcns in its line
OF direction soathwarl till reaching its
point oi iina! outcrop in Mineral county,
West Virginia, it has attained height of
II ieet. his bed is high up in tie series,
and is doubtless thc equivalent OF the Pitts
barSh coal. 1t has been subjected 10 exces-
Siyc c"os.ons which have carried il away
and sadly reduced its area. The whole
length o! its extent from Mount Say
age to Hampshire mines is upwards of IS
miles and it has an average breadth of A.
miles. 1e, such has has been the havoc of
the relentless forces of nature that the
whole productive ground does not exceed
Il 900 acres
The town of Frostburg is I 100 feet higher
than Cumberland, eleven miles to the east,
and is situated on a transverse ridge which
connects Dan and Savage mountains The
great seam pnderlies this ridge in Il contin-
nous unbrokcn range along its whole
breadth, but north and south of the ridge
the country is cut up by deep crosions
Georges creek flows southwest from
Frostburg, along the line of direction of the
basin, till it delivers itself into the Poto-
mac at Piedmont and Qunn's Run, which
also has its source at Frostburg flows in
contrary course till it cmptics into Wills
creek. The valleys through which these
streams flow sink deep into the basin ard
cut out nearly every seam of the series
The Potomac river also cuts through the
field near the southern outcrop of the great
seam, and carries away every workable |
seam of coal at Piedmont. At this point
the mountainl age upward of 600 high !
and the great vein is 900 feet above the bed |
of the Potomac river
The coal is delivered from the mines on |
leys by selfacting inclined planes. come of |
which are 1000 feet il. length Northeast |
towards Frostburg along Georges creek,
these planes become shorter, that stream !
rate of 231 feet to the mile. AT Miller |
mines, 81 miles south of Frostburg, the coal |
is level with the railroad. Further south, !
the Borden shaft--thc only shaft opening
the transverse ridge upon which the town |
of Frostburg now stands. This Shaft is
about 100 feet of perpendicular depth.
On each flank of the basin the inclination |
Of the strata is very steep. The upper
Goals which first crop out are comparatiTe- |
ly level, their pitch being not more than
fifteen degrees, but the lower ones pitch at
an angle Of 80 and 40 degrees
Although the main seam of coal is wide
ly known as the great IA feet vein" its az
crage thickness over its area does not eX-
ceed II feet. 1t contains two thin seams |
of slate in the benches, and an inch or two |
of bone coal, which when deducted the |
seam would yield 1900 tons to the acre
In practice, however, not more than + 900. |
tons are got. This result is partly Cue to
bad management on the part of the mine |
superntedents, and is partly due to the ac-
tive competition OF the coal companies, who |
rather than have the least imparty mixed .
up with the coal, consent to destroy more
than one-half of the coal by leaving it in .
the mine, beyond the possible hope of fu-
ture recovery.
In many of the mines the roofis composed
of brittle slate, which cannot be well !