Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1881-03-31

THE WYOMING VALLEY.
IN former letter from Western Pennsyl-
yania descriptive in part of that portion
which am proud to call "lny own, my ma
tive land,' was led to speak of the bitumi-
nous coal of that part Of the State, valuable
as well for its intrinsic utalization to the al
most endless variety of manufactures, rs for
its commercial bulk. in It's natural state and
when desulphurized by the process Of coke
ing In this purified state it ends'm the manu-
features Of the world that are almost limit
less and the specific gravity of which when
coked shows how beautifully the process
drives out the sulphur and other impurities
while the quality of the real carbon is retain
ed to an extent almost equal to that in the
diamond itself. 1t can now be said that
bituminous coal in its natural and manu-
lactured state finds its way in one form or
the other to all parts of the United States
even to the centre of the Anthracite region
in the Lackawanna and Lehigh valleys where
coke is indispensable in the manufacture
of steel rails for railroads. 1t was only last
Saturday that had the satisfaction Of wit
Messing at Scranton, Ia city OF $4,000 inhabi-
tants and the county seat OF Lackawanna
county, Penn.,) the manufacture OF steel
rails, watching the process from the iron ore
in the blast furnaces to the pig-irOn and
bloom shape, Until it passed through the
rollers and into l,ils; cEt and squared at the
ends by the s,.y mill and measured into !
lengths of thirty feet The rails for the
standard gauge weigh about "a pounds to
the yard and those for the narrow gauge
80 pounds to the yard. So taking the pre-
sent cost Of iron rails, which is now about
forty dollars per ton, a mile therefore OF iron
for Il narrow gauge will amount to about S3-
520, exclusive Of chairs, spikes, frogs and
switches. Travelling as / have done from
one coal mine to the other in Pennsylvania,
il might seem that | had sought trip to
write about coal in particular, but when
il is known that ! have come to the
celebrated Wyoming valley 10 visit dear !
daughter in Wikesbarre, my views rs herein
declared will the more readily be received as
facts, coming as they do from a disinterested
traveller writing about what he sees and
learns in the general converse among men.
What have to say about the mineral belt of
anthracite coal may not appear new to the
general reader Of the resources OF our great
country, but when l repeat that the great
anthracite region of hard coal is confined to a
tract in Pennsylvania that could be embraced
in a district measuring about ninety miles
long by about five miles wide and not found
anywhere else in the United States, it may
he wonderment to some why great mon
led combination has not ere this pooled the
whole tract and sent hard coal up to prices
never reached except when strikes and hard
times cut down the supply. This may seem
a combination impossible, with coal lands
reaching from $1,000 to $4,000 per acre. But
when it is considered that the vein in some
places is eighty feet thick, as it is under the
city of Wikesbare and under the Susque-
hanna river in the Wyoming valley, the
scheme assumes no greater proportions than
that Of certain railroad consultations under
the magic direction of Jay Gould. AS the
anthracite furnishes the fuel for Eastern
Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Mary
land, New Jersey, and a good bulk of the
commerce along the Atlantic coast and as far
west as Chicago and Omaha, and is used in
all Eastern factories and railroads with little
or no competition, it may not be long before
an anthracite combination will put upon the
market stock more attractive than the
Consolidated Virginia in its palmiest days.
THE WYOMING MASSACRE.
For the purpose of refreshing our men,
ories upon the oft read pages of Wyoming's
history, l will bring to mind first, what con- ,
stitutes the Wyoming Valley, or rather cor
rect an impression that myself had ian i'm i,
preston that still animates the minds of dis .
tant readers) that the Wyoming Valley was .
formed by the broad bottoms of a stream ,
which gave the name. But instead, midway
through the Valley winds the north branch ,
OF the Susquehanna, river as large as the /,
Yellowstone of Montana, ornated with pic
turesque islands and fertile bottoms through !
the length Of the immortal Valley, which be- ,