Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1875-05-29
CUR CORRESPONDENCE.
"ninrr" supports Mr.. Roy

Being constant and careful reader OF
y,,ur valuable t,tn~r have been paving
.,,..., .,,o,.;,,, l., the d;la;ss;on bet,yern
X fV,i ii
FL. Roy anu Jo''h Do"S'"H' j. III S''U
to The |aste N mining our Big VEN oi
coal. In shis CORRESPONDENCE the public
bos Ic,rnrI LITTLE or r. niorthincr new of the
,o,,or J;s,u,ed t{y ali ,,t,ns they ouoht
70 avoid rors,n,,iti4. ne ,be yeodno nor
,;op of tbe pu,lic takes no stock in such
matters
T., 10 +; -, ,,oco ,,e have Mr. Roy max
;ne the assertion that Il large amount of
onr Iii, voin coal is wasted in mining. and
civos nc Professor HODGES report as his
authority Now who is this Professor
IJodrc onJ what is the nature of his re-
nor,s We find that he was mining
nro;,cor and ccolor;st who was engaged
Nv, !, number of thc leading Coal Compan-
;os in 1860 TO make n survey of our coal
basin and of our system of mining On
nogc : Of his rcport we find the following:
The older mines of this region were
worked to a great extent in reckless
manner without proper pan FOR '''r ,iHhi
rA"',''on ~ Amy ,,J ro'' ,,l.n" o,t onI
lorac arcas were run through and then left
in such condition that not only the coal in
these cOuid not nc SaIeiy OF economical!
!sl'ppI, "u @ . o ,n; roa'Ind u.os snn,n
times quite cut off. ~
Now if these are facts, and the writer of
this is bound TO believe them as such. as
he has seen them with his own ewes, it
nrovcs Mr.. Rows statements to I've correct
so far. After reading Mr.. Hodges report
Dourlos docs, and comparing it with what
have seen in orr system of mining the
last twenty wears, believe it to be correct
And know from other sources it is accept
cd os standard authority in regard to the
area of our coal basin ard the product to
the acre of the same, Mr.. Douglas laughing
TO the contrary notwithstanding.
But the main point at issue between Mr..
Roy and Mr.. Douglas is the three feet of
bottom coal that is not mined on Georges
Creek. Mr.. Douglas, in his last letter to
the JoFrSAI. riyes us the reason why it is
not mined, namely, that it is SO mixed with
small seams Of slate and other impurities,
hut fails TO let us know what the other i'm
nu,;tics are that the owners of the proper
~ do not consider II fit for commercial pur
noses Now suppose Mr. Roy and all
the rest Of mankind will admit that the
o,vncrss NJ the proper,y have n perfect
ripbt 10 mine what portion of their coal
,bc,- fink 'nroncr md to exercise their
avn judgement in all tbinrs pertaininr to
their business. But if it is only certain
amount Of prejudice that exists in the
minds of certain people against the bottom
mart Of the vein that makes it unfit for
commercial n,rnoscs then the public has
ncrfcct RIGHT to investigate it. As coal has
been formed for the benefit of the human
race we have not onl: right, but it becomes
orr duty. to see that il is properly taken
care of
Let us take look at our coal basin We
find II extending from north east in a south
western direction n distance of twenty
miles Our vein of coal varies from nine
to sixteen feet in thickness. At the north
eastern end ofthe basin we find strata of
slate in the breast coal from two to six
inches thick with three small seams of slate
in the bottom coal. Now, as we descend
Georges C eek the strata of slate in
the breast coal disappears the New Hope
slope being the last OPENING in which this
slate is found. But the owners of these
mines have never thought of not working
the vein on account of the aforesaid slate in
IN. brcos, coal
We find also the benches with their
three small seams of slate mixed in these
r,;,es comnetnc in the same market with
t,,o -coll,d nine feet of mopniticcnt ouali
., of GOO, tb.t Mr. Donyl,s nrofssps 10
n,;,e in tbc mines of the GEORGES Creek
coal g. Iro, Comn,pv and commanding
,ho ao,,,. nri.e In fact the bottom coal is
,,;,., oe,e,.,h, in all the mines down
$500 Crool, 70 I,,oc,nino tbc SLATE
d;s,nno,r,nr as Won traverse to the south
ana. a,a of ,,n h,s;n At the NJdlo d
>1;,o. wa find only two States in ,hc bench
I. o.,,,,,, 60 ,,o r,,,lio that