The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1883-08-02
HOW LONG PERNsYLvANIA's ANTHHA-
CITE COAL WILL LAST, AND
THE PRESENT WASTE.
WILKES BARRE, PEEN.,l
July ., 1883. !

ever-evident fact, and the loss to the
operators is annually an amount that
reaches way into the millions. But
there Is yet no practical way known
to the men interested 10 stop this we'll
known encroaehment upon the divi-
dends Of the collieries. Great bodies
are prone To overlook minute details
and affairs in their business, and, rs
well, move slowly in every movement
inaugurated that tends toward the
discontinuance Of little extravagances
aud unfortunately the great coal CON-
Fanies are 10 be counted along with
this class Of derilict bodies. There are
few cOllieries where the rules OF
economy are pretentiOusly carried out,
and some Of them make q partial sue
cess out Of their efforts, while Others
fail entirely. There are hundreds
OF places about a cOlliery where q
waste Of anthracite may be accom-
plished, unless a check be put upon
the men. The great difficulty Is 10
get the men In authority 10 take the
interest IN the operation Of the works
that the employer would IL he were
| constantly on hand himself.
The great waste of the hard anthra-
cite coal Is a matter which Is now TT
tracing serious attention at the hands
Of large producing corporations, and
they are convinced that an improve
ment could be effected which would
more than repay any experiment
tending toward q decrease in the prof
ligate waste Of anthracite that takes
/ place daily in the ordinary mode Of
mining. IL this can be attained and
a more economical system OF mining
be adopted than has heretofore been
| practiced, II will be a long stride on
/ the highway TO economy. The pres
/ ent system Is Objectionable for many
reasons. The pOnderOus machinery
used In It's preparation, crushing and
/ reducing the coal to proper sizes for
/ domestic use Is as IL has been from the
/ time of its original make. The coal is
/ reduced to a comparativelystsm
/ quantity i'm preparing the several
/ graded qualities for the convenience Of
i consumers, and great loss Is incurred
in its preparation, and not always are
Il the current rates renumerative TO the
/ producers. It j. not an eXaggeratiOn
to say that fully One-fOurth Of the
l whole product Of the anthracite mines
under the present system Of mining
and preparation is let 90 To waste and
loss, not alone 10 the producer but TO
the country at large. The washing Of
small coal where ID can be advantage
Ously done Is a subject receiving con-
| sideFation. The coal that would be
thus saved will readily repay its eX-
| penses, and produce a purer market
able article than can be otherwise
produced, and I think it will be a
profitable move
Each cOlliery, shaft or breaker has
its dumping ground for slate, rock,
general refuse, etc, and also its culin,
or the fine pieces and PARTICLES Of coal
which constantly accumulates. This
/ culm Is really the cream OF the coal,
the very best Of IL. The chips and
| small pieces-the size Of walnuts, or,
hickory nuts, rs they are sometimes
called-that fly from the large chunks
when the miner succeeds I'm getting a
| good fall, are too small for domestic
use, and Il is mingled with the com
mon dust OF the mine and thrown out
upon the culm pile 10 lie for years-a
monument Of waste, and a reminder
that It's corporate bounds contain that
| which represents thousands and thou
sands Of dollars spent for naught.
/ No wonder the operators depiOre the
| situation. There are culm piles at
tendant upon many Of the cOllieries i'm
these coal regions that reach up into
the air fully one hundred and fifty
| feet AID cover a broad extent Of land
indeed a person is Oftentimes COM
PEELED to travel a full mile to get
/ around them. It is exceedingly peril
ous tpattempt to climb upon and walk
/ over a culm pile unless one is thor
oughly acquainted with the condition
of It. Many Of them are on fire, and
burn 80 slowly that i'm the day time
/ the dangerous element is not notice
able unless il be a very cloudy day.
| The fire burns so slowly that il is
/ often years before it is discovered, and
then only by a sinking in Of the sur
face, or the gradual changing Of the
/ color of the outside culm from jet
black TO a dark sulpherOus shade.
| When one OF these bodies of small
anthracite becomes on fire il is useless
| to attempt to eXtinguish il. Millions
/ and millions Of tons Of coal are piled
up in these black murky coal regions
| in the way of these black unsightly
piles They look as though they were
acting the part Of cormOrant I'm the
great coal industry. The most hope
| ful of the operators contend that the
day Is not far distant when all of this
| eulm will be utilized, and that when
that period arrives each celliery pro-
| prietOr will have a f0rtuae awaiting
| him at once. There may be more
| truth than poetry i'm this prOphesy.
But as yet there has been no practical
arrangement made whereby it could
be used for any purpose, save In one
instance. It is being made up into u
| pressed brick form and is shipped TO
few blast furnaces il New England
where Il is used for fuel. It Is claim
ing the attention Of many experienced
coal mining people and the mRnufac-
turing Of this coal waste into market
able shape Is meeting but slight en-
cnuragement at home or abroad. At
present the pure article can be used at
far less expense than the artificial
manufactured coal In some instances
IL Is used under steam boilers. and
then il can only be consumed by the
assistance Of a strong fire and power
ful blower.
The largest known anthracite depOs-
itin the world is al present conceded 10
Pottsville, I'm Schuylkill county, this
State, lately developed by the persist
ent energy Of the Philadelphia and
Reading Coal and Iron company, in
the vicinage north Of the little city of
| Pottsvilie. These late developments
have demonstrated beyond all Opin-
ions 10 the contrary the eXistanCe OF
the largest anthracite deposit yet dis
| covered i'm any other locality In Eu-
rope or America, the length Of which
| extends twenty-five miles by four
broad, varying i'm depth from three
| hundred to three thousand feet. Some
of the new shafts i'm this region are
sunk To a depth Of one thousand one
hundred and twenty-five feet. The
existence Of the large white ash seams
in this basin was not a question ol
doubt amongst professional mining
engineers, but their precise locality
| from the surface was, and only by q
practical development did they learn
The exact depth. BY the indOmitabie
energy and pluck Of the engineers the
fruition Of their desires and ideal was
| secured and they were amply reward
ed in revealing the true positions OF
the different coal seams Of red and
white ash, on a much more productive
scale than had been anticipated by th'
! friends Of, or the gentlemen them
. / selves.