Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1877-05-03

csussposd<.1i sflle Btseea. a
IosAcoxzz Atlrcxrr Co.
April 81, 1871.
De~ Bsseso Having li>e1 hsse loe
siska noaths 90 = that srsoa heara
seen or thosgh1 = lissle bst eosl. miaes,
sAaiss and thise uhiek similarly per-
taia TO that everiastias product Of the
Mountain eosnty" (for our people here,
IKE the ex-fss;dent and kis one topic
-hosse. ksow how to talk nothing else,
Iieel - e ] s1uld considerably relieve
myself of peat up (cosl) emotions By .
Dssssr % you. Should the ep;ssls eea-
tain ovsr-mseA Il ne ahove-named
mineral. sttnbuse Il .o-aseociss;oa.
Loasconing name which in IN In
dian dialect means .'the great ngh,-hand
stream"-is situated in the he~rt Of the
great Cumberssd eosl rrgios. On the
Cumberland q Piedmont h. r., about
half way between its extreme points.
and only . few m,les from either the
West Virginia Or Pennsyivania line.
Ii location Is pleasant and picturesque.
having beea manly built in . pretty
valley ct the base Of four huge noun
tsins. with its streets attending quite q
Distance up the hills. So nestled is il
in the greet Alleganies. that from no
point in town can the eye reach aught
save their blue SUBMITS.
Five years ago. there were scarcely
that many hundred inhabitants here;
now there are Eve thousand. Socially,
the place 50 little resembles Southern
Maryland, that were the field Of your
lsbors changed from rural St. Mary's to
rocky Allegany. you might be pardoned
for thinking that your BEACON rays
were lighting the green wales Of the
Emerald Isle" or the land Of Robert
Burns. The Irish brogue and the broad
Scotch accent are sounds with which
one soon becomes familiar here. The
population-at least of the "diggings"
is made up Of elements indicated by
these tongues, together with 4 slight
sprinkling Of English. German and Welsh
The Scotch religiously, a. a general
thing, are true followers of Jno. Knox,
and politically Republicans. The Irish
as body are Catholics and Democrats.
The former are in the ascendency. con.
sequently Of the 1000 or 1900 votes
polled here they ordinarily have q ma
jority OF 100 or thereabouts.
At Homecoming there are ten mines,
owned by the Maryland. George
Greek, American and New Central
Companies. These employ on an av-
erage $50 men each, making an aggre-
gate Of $500, and when working at their
full capacity can unearth 1900 tons per
day. This is about one-third Of the to-
tai amount dug in the region, there be.
ing ten mines and shafts above and eight
below this point. Cumberland coal, q
luxury so saluable in your part of the
State, can be had here delivered at one.
and-a-half dollars per ton. and by going
for II yourself for-nothing. The cost
Of mining, that is. including every ex'
pense incurred in placing It in the cars
on the R. RS something less than
one dollar. The most productive por.
tons Of the "coal fields" is the George.
Greek. From Frostburg to Western.
port. a distance OF sixteen miles, the
Alleganies, form a. it were. q double
range. and down the valley between,
runs the above-mentioned stream. In
the hills on each side is the greater part
Of the workable coal, although It may
be struck by sinking shafts in the val.
ley. This is easily done. 1t is found
10 strata or veins" (as they are called
in mining parlance) varying in thick.
ness from three to fourteen feet. The
uniform position Of these layers is some.
what wonderful. They are never hori.
zoutal. but always decline, from both
ranges, towards the creek.
The openings are made in places
where it approaches nearest the surface
Sometimes It jues out Of the hillside in
veins Of full thickness, and it is not ex.
traordinary TO see IN outcropping mas.
Of '.big sun" "a feet). As a general
thing, however, fifteen or twenty fee:
Of earth has to be removed in order to
get . quality sufficiently good for ship.
ment. The aperture is always made in
the lower side Of the stratum, BY which
means q down-grade is secured from
within. After e6ecting the entrance
the course Of the layer is followed BY
the '.main heading or principal thor.
oroughfares, which Is crossed and re.
crossed BY streets or sisles, designated
a. "6rst right, ''second left. !" &c, from
the direction from you on entering
About three feet n left for the roof ant
q like amount for floor. Pillars OF per.
haps twenty feet in diameter, assistet
by stout wooden props, are retained te
support the roof, which, despite these
precautionary measures, occasionally
takes notion TO tumble down and woe
be unto the unfortunate occupants Of the
Inflated room. There are double track.