The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-08-20
ETERNAL FIRE.
Torty-fvo Years Of He'll in q Pennsylvania
Coal Mine.

N
common occurrence In this or any other eonl
region: but In most cases the flames are soon
drowned out, tho water removed, and mining
continued as before. IN ~ only on rhro ocei-
pions that the flames make suGh headwny r.
tfnpuished IN Il few weeks by the introduction
III water ANA steam. One Of the most inter-
esting and extensive fires ever known N tsts
country has been raging IN n collicry In
Srhnylkjll county for nearly torty-itvD years
Thouaands of dollars have been spent In vain
endoayors to eStinguish the fire, but ut last
The idea was abandoned, and since the
beginning Of the war nothing has been
done to subdue the conllaEratOn, which rages
without interruption. The history Of this mine
liz very interesting and, strange to say. though
hundreds OF travellers visit the coal fields Of
this ana adjoining counties every yenr. hardly
any OF them hear Of this great curiosity. Tho
vein that is burning is callei the ''jugular,
aud the surface crop was first worked IN 1888
by Lewis H. Doughorty nj place called Coal
Castle. one and u half miles west of what Is
now known az Mount Laffee The coal taken
out was Of excellent quality and the mine very
productive Where n drift Ia worked above
water, 1t la the custom to keep huge CRATE
filled with burning coal by the side OF the
mouth to prevent the water CUTTERS from
freezing. Such CRATE was IN situation ~ The
INNER drift OF Mr.. Dougherty's mine In the
winter 81 1885 One Saturday night the grate
was filled with m unusually large quantity
of coal, and tho miners went 70 their homes.
On tho following Monday morning. when the
mine was visited, it was found to he filled
with flames. II III supposed that the firc In
tho CRATE became communicated to the tim
bers and. moving along the upper DRIFT, was,
by means Of nm air-hoe, carried into THO lower
drift At any rate, tho coal ~ both drifts was
on fire when tho men came to work Monday
morning, aud two of the miners recklessIy
went In 10 save their tools and never returned.
Efforts were made to extinguish the fire,
but. after working for several weeks, Mr..
Dougherty gave UP all hopes. and, abandon
ing the place. opened another colicry about
hair mile west of 1t. During the winter Of
1856 z John Mcliinns. of Pottsville. heard Of
the large body Of coal that lay near the aban-
doned mine and concluded that some Of 1t
could ba got out without reaching the lire.
He put In u slope on the east side Of the vein
and below the water level. The work, how
ever. progressed slowly, and owing to tho
heavy masses Of rock encountered was very
expensive. He was tlnally rewarded by strik-
ing the "juguar" vein at a point where there
was deposit Of coal SO thick that two OF
three miners could keep the breaker going,
and although IL was worked for months.
they never succeeded In getting. through
1T. The coal proved TO be iirst-class,
and four hundred yards Of gangway
had been driven when the miners began To
complain of excessive heat. and then Mr.. Nc
Ginnis knew that they were approaching the
fire In the mine Dougherty mad abandoned.
This was about q year after the slope had
been started. aud Mr.. McGnnis saw that IL
would be necessary to open an air-holc. This
work began ut once, but after driving twenty
or thirty yards the heat became 50 intense
that the warkmen were almost Sufncated
and many OF them refused to continue. By
paying double wages q number OF men were
found willing to work in the air-hole; some
idea Of the intense heat may be had when 1t Is
stated that the men worked perfectly naked,
and were relieved every ten minutes. After
the air-hole had been open about fifty yards |
the heat became unbearabe, and the mon |
tainted when exposed to il a minute or two. |
Seeing that il was impossible to complete |
the air-hole, work In ii was given up, ana |
at II fortunate time, for II was aftcrward dis |
covered that il the hole had been Carried up a |
few yards further 1t would have struck the |
water on the upper level and drowned every
one In the mine About this time the miners
noticed that when a shot was fired, and the
coal came rolling down In huge masses, 1T was
50 warm that IT could moi be comfortably |
handled. Every day the miners expected to
see the fire break out and ut last when COM
ing to work one morning they found the gang
way filed with smoke and flames. AS this |
was expected To happen sooner or later, prep
arattOns had been made to eXtiDgniSh the
fire, and the mine WIS soon filled with water
The treatment had the desired effect, and
when the water was pumped out work was re-
Sumed. 5..a.5z
From this time forward It was almost q
continual fight with tire, and no less than
eight times was the cOliiery filled with water
and pumped dry again. The ninth time the
mine was filled with water the machinery got
out OF order and the pump refused to work.
As Mr.. McGinnis had sunk all his capital
and could not raise enough money to pur-
chase new machinery, the mine was ADAM
doned In the winter Of 1859. The fire con-
tinued to burn until the barriers between the
mine were consumed, and the timbers in Mr.
Mctiinniss mine gradually rottcd away, and
finally the slope caved in. From that time
until now the fire has continued without In
corruption, and the coal has been consumed
Tor half a mile In every direction. The
ground has caved in in many places, leaving
great chasms that vary from fifty to one
hundred feet in desth. Travel over the burned
district Is exceedingly dangerous to any one
not familiar with the country, for In many
places great holes are only covered by sholl
IF burned earth three Or four feet thick. Mr.. |
McGinnis states that even as familiar as heis
with the locality he came very near losing his
life there a few years ago by falling through
The crust. He was crossing portion OF the I
burnt earth when he felt the earth giving way
under his feet, and on starting to run for !
irmer ground he sank up to his armpits In
Try ashes and burned earth. Fortunately he
with the assistance of a friend, to s
sxtricate himself and reach solid ground with
ut injury. Inhabitants OF the region never
lttempt to cross over the burning vein at
light.
iagration that Is going on underneath the :
ground at that point Is the total absence Of
ground are 50 hot that they cannot be held. !
md snow is melted as fast as 1t falls. During t
Amy weather, the surrounding country Is
.nveloped in dense clouds OF fog that rise
rom the overheated earth. The fire has now =
,urned across the top rock and into dirt :
Iein, or vein Of soft coal, where 1t may last =
OF many years. During the early part Of !
Mr.. McGinnis's connection with the mine, it b
vas noticed that the water oozng into 1t from ]
he levels above had the effect Of destroying I
he miners shoes soon as they came in q
contact with it. The water was not unpleaS- =
unity warm, and the men found that il d !
Wound was washed with it a speedy cure fol- !
owed The curative qualities of this d
water soon became known. and
hundreds of people locked to Coal cas- d
10 during the summer of 1855 TO IL
est 1t merits. Remarkable cures Of rheuma-
lave been made, and, consequently, the water q
ttracted 9 good deal Of attention all over the q
ountry, ana hundreds III barrels of II we,4
L Nj