The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-07-26
FLAT TOP COAL.
PocAHoN1As DISTRICT THE
GREATEST IN THE WORLD.
EDITOR SACKS REMARKS ON IT
a Yearly Outpu. OF Tw" Million and
Quarter Tons Royalty IL Pays.
Interesting StatiStics-ThOMSa OF
Miners Employed.

III his address before the Tennessee
, Press Association President Slack,
! editor of the Bristol Courier, had this
to say of the mineral interests of this
section:
Did You know that the Pocahontas
district is the greatest coal produc-
ing district in the world? In 1887 the
several coal companies owning the
lands in the vicinity of Flat Top
mountain were all consolidated into
what is known us the Flat Top Land
Trust, which now OWNS most of the
lands with the exception of those
owned by the Crozier Land Company.
No land is sold Tor any purpose at
any price all being held and worked
by the operators under lease.
The royalties are from & to 10 cents
for every ton of coal sold ms coal
and II to Is cents for each ton of coke
produced. y minimum payment of
$500 per year is required from each
lease There were fifteen leases in
this field in 1888. The total land
covered by these leases is only about
10000 acres of the PIG, 900 acres of coal
land in the district, and only about
5000 acres of the lG2, 600 actually un-
derlaid with coal. The No. s vein,
the one worked, has IN average thick
ness of about eight feet. AT the usual
estimate OF 1000 tons per acre for
each foot of coal, from these figures
some idea of tie vast amount of coal
in this field may be gained. On the
basis of 1000 tons of coal to an acre, a
shipment of 900 tons il day would
exhaust but 500 acres annually.
This would give Il yearly output of
$3.50, 900 tons At this rate of pro
duction the leases already given
would supply the demand for
thirty years, and the other veins that
will be available when No. 3 is ex
hausted. will yield fully as much
more The first shipments Of coal
from this field We're made in 1888.
from Pocahontas. Including the
shipments in that year up to January
list, 1889, there We're sent 10 the mar
kct, by way of the Norfolk and Yves
tern railroad, l,37S,000 tons of coal
and coke. The cost of production
is about ~ cents ton for COAL the
price received ranges from 81 cents to
81 and III estimating profits the
Pennsylvania idea should he borne in
mind: That is. that pay is largely in
store orders. which may be regarded
as reducing the cost or increasing the
profits. Now, rs Il conclusion OF this
matter, we find that owners receive
about 100000 Il year III royalties;
that the essees clear nearly II half
million dollars Il Year: that the Nor
folk and Western railroad receives Il
handsome profit every year for haul
ing seventy-lvc thousand car loads OF
coal TO market, and thousands OF
miners, employees and agents make
good living out of the business. 1t
would he profitable to study these
statistics, even more fully than they
are here given. and interesting to
make comparative analysis of this
and other coal fields. But such a
thing is impossible now. This partic-
ularizatiou has been made the more
folly TO impress upon you that today
new railroads are opening up fields
equally as rich in adjoining counties.