The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-03-14

I ltnIu tIilb lebluut WHICH 10 luII VI lu-
terest and OF economic importance to
Ameficans,'is the great coal, field OF Dur
ham and Northumberland, the oldest
worked mines in England, as yet to-day the
most prolific. This area, comprised an ex.
posed coal.feld OF 400 square miles and a
concealed area OF DDS square miles, poss-
esses some OF the most important coal
seams worked in Great Britain. The rivers
Blythe, Tyne and Wear naturally give
their names t0 the three great divisions OF
the coal.leld. The Blythe coal.feld, the
Tyne coal.feld, ,.and the Wear coal field are
really one, extending from near Wark-
worth, at the mouth Of the River Coquet,
on the north, to neartle north bank OF the
Tees within six miles of Barnard
Castle) on the south-an expanse Of
nearly fifty miles in length by twenty
miles in breadth ; its greatest diameter be.
ing near the centre, along the course Of the
river Tyne, narrowing in the north after
passing the river Blythe. From the Coquet,
near WRrkworth, TO the river Tyne, the
North Sea limits the coal.feld TO the east.
To mine the 5000, 900 tons Of coal annual.
ly produced in this district, in 1880, 5000
persons were engaged, making an average
ofabout one ton ot coal per day for each
man, or 3B5 tons q year il We include Sun.
day. OF the 5000 about 10. 500 are en-
ployed under ground. Wages have fuc.
tuated in the last twenty years as greatly as
the price OF coal, which averaged in Lon
don coal markets in 1850 lSs. ID. or $4G0 a
ton, to S04 sd. or 81 70 q ton in 1873, and
gradually decreased until the average price
for the year 1880 was l4s lid or about S3.75
ton. A sliding scale has been adopted by
which the price per ton paid The men
varies with the market price-a maxi.
mum and minimum rate being fixed. So
great has been the fluctuations that in the
last decade both. of the rates have been
reached. According 10 the employers in
formation the miners, in 1870, were paid
Is. Sd. or Sill day for an average output
OF 467 tons OF coal and 4s. Std. in 1878, or
a farthing more, for an average output oil
402 tons, being decrease OF 10 per cent
In the quantity Of work done for the same
wages. Certain It Ia that the earnings in
this dangerous and disagreeable work do not
exceed, at the present time, 5s. or Sl.20 a
day for steady days work. The available
coal remaining in this great Northern coal
field Is estimated atupward OF ten thous-
and million OF tons. At the present rate
Of production the supply will last $50
years. sI 80 -s.a
Va hl. CLEVELAND IRON.
So much for the coal supply Of this dis
trict. Now for the Cleveland iron mines,
which are included in the area l am con-
sidering. The existence Of an iron ore on
the northeastern coast Of Yorkshire ap.
pears to have been long known; indeed the
constant discovery Of iron Stag on the hills
OF Cleveland shows that ores were worked
in remote antiquity. About thirty years
ago local iron masters began 10 employ the
Cleveland ore to supplement the supply OF
ores TO their furnaces. 1t answered well
and soon 1t was found that the Cleveland
Hills were full OF iron. Then began the
remarkable development OF the district
which reminds one more OF the develop.
ment Of the industrial towns Of the United
States than Of anything in the history OF
British industry. From place OF 900 peo.
pie in 1851, Middlesborourgh has in thirty
years leaped 10 10000, and the whole sur.
rounding district is q marvel Of industrial
energy. Thearea ofthe Cleveland Hills con-
tanning deposits Of Iron ores extend on the
northern escarpment from 0rmesby, near
Middlesborough, to.the coast and southerly
to the Eskadale and Rosedale valleys, the
workable portion OF the ore being found
most fully developed in the northwest
portion OF the area, diminishing both in
the thickness Of the beds and the quality
OF the ore in the south and eastern part Of
the area. The growth OF this region has
been unparalleled. Commencing with the
year 1854, when returns Of production first
appear, 650,000 tons OF ironstone were
raised in the Cleveland district. Two years
later it had increased to ], ,l4S,4SS. At home
the development Of the Lake Superior dis.
triCt is regarded as remarkable, but the
following table, which l have compiled
from A. P. swineiord's statistics Of the
Lake Superior mines, or for the Cleveland
mines, from John Marley's Memoir on
Cleveland Ironstone, etc, shows the mag
nitude and riches OF the Cleveland hills
even when compared with the Lake
Sunariay,F irhTf rabinn.