Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1883-02-24
NEW COAL FIELDS.
Prof. COltOn's Investigations in
Van Buren, and Warren
Counties.
Cheap Coke and Coal for Manu-
facturerS in this City.

Nashville American, 10th.
Prof. Henry E. Cotton, Geologist of
the Bureau of Agriculture and Mines,
returned from trip to Warren, Van
Buren, and Sequatchie counties yester-
day. Prof Cotton states that, not
withstanding the bad weather, he ex-
plored great deal of country, going
up the Cumberland mountain on the
most northerly fork of Rocky river,
and coming down one of the head
streams Of Collins river, having looked
over an area on the mountain Of about
twenty-five square miles. He states
that lie found the Sewanee seam of coal
in several places, and is fully satisfied
that it underlays very large body of
land in the region traverSed. This
seam of coal, as is well known, can be
more certainly relied upon for blast
furnace fuel than any in the State, and
the coke from it is fully equal to Con-
nellsville, and as the mines and ovens
at Tracy City are now worked to their
fullest capacity to supply the three
furnaces of the Tennessee Coal u Iron
Company, another location from which
this excellent fuel may lie drawn is
very desirable thing to know. Prof.
Cotton says that the region he visited
is that place, and that the coal can be
reached in a railroad distance from
Nashville of 1l6 miles, of which 10 is
to be built. Prof. Cotton saw pit 10
feet long by 6 wide sunk down to the
coal, not far from the outcrop, through
which about 100 bushels were taken
out. He measured the thickness and
it was full "A inches on the thinnest
side. He says that the most practiced
eye could not have told the coal from
that from the Tracy City mines, and
rough experiments show that it will
coke very well.
If Nashville is to have a blast fur
mace, said Prof. Cotton, this is the
place from whence the fuel can come
cheapest and the coal is Of the best for
that use. For coke making it can be
mined at two cents per bushel, hence
the cost of coke from it in Nashville
would be
Mining 100 bushels coal ...................$2 90
Props, etc,...."".."............ 90
Transportation to main line Of railroad 80
Making into coke ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. %
So %
The Sewanee Coal, for every 100
bushels usually yields 115 bushels of
coke; this Rocky river coal will do as
well, as it is the same; hence, So % is
The cost of 115 bushels of coke; and the
cost of one bushel is within a small
fraction of two cents and eight tenths.
Hence, again:
Cost of bushel of coke, at........,........ OBS
Main line transportation to Nashville. OF,
Therefore, we have from this locality
coke delivered in Nashville at four and
cight-tenths cents per bushel. Ard il
is we'll known that CO. six cents pei
bushel is a moderate price for blast
furnace fuel. But you may ask why
his coal can be mined and delivered Sc
cheaply? First, there is no loss il
slack where the whole coal is mined
and made into coke. There are sew
rral mines in this State where only two
cents per bushel is paid for mining
because the whole product is made in
to coke. Then, this coal has a gooC
roof, and back in the mountain is like
ly to run more. regular in thicknes,
than even at Tracy. Again, the pres
ent idea is to run narrow-gauge roaC
down the mountain, seven miles, wher,
rhe coke oven would be located, ant
there would come wide.gauge track
to branch of the McMinnville q Spar
Ia road at Rowland, or some othe
point near there. Rowland is 10
miles from Nashville, then the wide
gauge branch would be six miles more
making l13 miles from the coke oven
TO Nashville. If 100 ton furnac
were put up in Nashville, it would tax
at least 1000 bushels Of coke per day
and it would take about $500 bushel
of coal to make that amount of coke
hence. on that amount of coke, th
cost of transportation would be small
Besides, such road would do