The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-08-03
A BURNING NINE.
ACRES or ANTHRACITE IN FLAMES.
mW tine Destructive Element WAS SUR
rounded Fire the work OF %
WMff.


NV tine destructive Element WAS SUR
rounded Tne Fire the work OF
Waff.
tNew York Herald
pITTsToN, Pc, July U-PassengerB on the
IieIigh and Susquehanna Road o little to the
southeast Of this town, are frequently puzzled
I'D 500 Issuing from the earth through num-
wreaths OF smoke. These are accompanied
by oppressed clouds OF sulphur that impress
Che Visitor who tar1ies In their vicinity most
foruibly with an idea Of the ferocity OF the
rs which T. ragng nd IN o th9 efn ha
lodged itself In the fourteen foot vein OF the
Butler Coal-works, where 1t has been burning
for more than year, and where despite the
Efforts of the most experienced 4, engineers, it
Its Roadway has been obtained in the old
workings Of the Butler coal mine, and the fire
Es fed by the pillars, wooden props, and the
work used in supporting the roof.
AS Is well known TO every one versed in
coal mining, nearly one-third of the solid
anthracite is left standing to keep up the roof
and protect the workmen. This 1t Is, which
Tanned by the currents that rush through the
old chambers, makes it impossible to extin-
glish the flames by the steam principle SO
successfully employed in the case of the en-
piie shaft ct Wilkesbarre, while the elevated
location OF the workings, which are situated
In b hillside several feet higher than the
town, renders the work Of introducing water
with any degree OF success an impossblity.
VIOLATING THE FIRE.
The only practical way, therefore, in which
this great danger can be successfully COM
bated Is to surround the fire by an immense
cut, sufficiently. deep and wide to isolate 1t
With this object In view, Mr.. g. T: Conrad,
whose plans the company accepted In prefer
ence to many others submitted to them, COM
meneed to make survey OF the locality on
.4.yr. Vt nF lhar Dsf tx,tfh
view Of comprehending the limits Of the burn
ing spot at that time, and also allow for the
additional area likely to be comprehended in
the scope OF the fire before the work Of sur
with the map accompanying, was filed in the
Gompany's Office on the fifteenth of last Jan
alary, and showed at that time the fire from
three acres In the May preceding,
TO fifteen acres. He discovered that in
all other directions the flames were con-
fronted by natural barriers which would
eventually check their progress, excepting on
sweeping forward rapidly, with nothing to
hinder their final contact with the coal works
OF the Pennsylvania Coal Company and those
OF the Delaware and Hudson Canal Conn
pany, as well as several other works. The
parties who own the threatened property no.
Titled tho Butler Company that in case of the
fire reaching their mines they would look to
the Butler Company for decentralization for
any GllhU mlBnb Do ana GlllS
fact made it doubly important that the de-
structive element should be- checked as early
and as effectively as possible. Accordingly
the cut was commenced, under the super
vision OF Engineer Conrad, ON the fourth of
February. with O force OF $50 men, who
worked in relays night and day.
EXTENT OF THE UNDERTAKING..
Some idea Of the magnitude of the work
may be obtained from the fact that the i'm
mense cut, which strikes from the surface
down through the rock Overhanging the coal
vein and through the vein itself to the clay
beneath, is being lined on each side with q
solid wall Of stone six feet in thickness. It ID
constructed In the shape of horse shoe, and
owing to the yielding nature OF the earth in
some portions of the surface the task has been
now approaching It's completion, and is q
splendid feat Of engineering, having set up
formidable barrier against the progress OF q
fire that could not fail to carry Its under
ground destruction throughout an important
portion Of the Wyoming coal field. As 1t is,
no less than LEO acres have succumbed to the
sseething element. and it is estimated that
nearly half million tons of coal have been
consumed much Of which, were 1t not for the
fire, could have been recovered by the system
known in mining parlance as robbing pill
lars" or taking out the coal left to support
the roof during the first process of mining.
This Id but d mere baEatelle as compared with
The total loss involved In the work of isolat-
Ing the flames.
THE WORK OF WAIF.
This destructive fire owes Its origin to an
olltcast named Maggie TOole who in the
spring of 1877, having no other place of shell
Ter, made her home In an abandoned tunnel
or stdrift' leading to the mine. Here she was
visited during the evenings by o number OF
fellows who made the place q sort Of rendez-
vous and eventually became known as the
s.Tunnel Gang" At last she sundenly disap-
peared, and it was found that the fire which
she had to keep warm and do her cooking had
extended to what Is known as the "gob' or
refuse, and from there to the woodwork and
coal pillars used in keeping up the roof.
PICTURE OF DEsOLATION
The appearance Of the surface of the burn
ing mine presents weird picture OF desola-
tion. Vegetation has withered and numerous
sseave holes dot the hillside, marking out
the path of the fire. From these the smoke
and sulphur issue in sitting volumes, giving
some faint idea of q Vesuvian scene, and show
ing how tiercely the fire must be raging in
the mine beneath at depth of fifty feet.
Mine Inspector Jones, one Of the most ex-
perenced men In this section, gave 1t as his
opinion that one of the results which was
likely to attend the fire. had 1t not been com
bated by some such plan as that of Mr.. Con-
rad, was that Of penetrating through the
works of the Pennsylvania Coal Company,
sand consequently under the town of Pitts
ton" 30 that it will be seen we have virtually
been standing on the verge of q volcano, and
a greater calamity than the burning of the