New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-02-16
WEST VIRGINIA.
ALMOST INEXHAUSTIBLE DEPOSITS OF
COAL.
ENOUGH TO SUPPLY THE ENTIRE NATION FOL
CENrUR1Es-RIcu VEINS AT THE SUR
FACE OF THE GRoUND-wHAT Is

FROM sTAFE coRRE, PoXDENr OF THE TRIBUNE
Coalburg w Va, Feb. 2.-Followin9 the style
of the old voyagers, West Virginia chart-maKers
might inscribe on almost any part OF the map
/" Here is Coal" In travelling, you encounter "
in the most unexpected places hidden away III
valleys, overlaid by the shore-mud along inc
rivers, in pockets among dizzy mountain tops
washed over by rapid streams, and stripping the
face Of preciptOus cliffs In some places it dives
a mile deep into the earth; in others the farmer
turns 1t up with his plough, and the mason digs
into it for his foundations. There is not enough
gold in the whole forty four counties to coin
Worlds Fair medal enough silver to plate q
Waterbury watch. But there is more coal than
England has unburcd since Watt discovered
the use of steam and more than this Nation could
consume in hundreds of years. II il were spread
out on the surface it would cover half the Con-
tinent, and if Lake Erie were drained it would
almost fill up the hole For the Appalachian is
the largest bituminous field in the world, and
West Virginia embraces its broadcast and richest
portion.
The black canoe which marks the field on the
maps rests its Prov on the New-York boundary
and its stern in Northern Alabama. In this State
the middle of the canoe typiiies not one, but sew
eral, groups of layers. The lowest and Oldest Is
reaching. II is thin in the centre, but thick
and unbroken about the edges, and contains little
sulphur. In the next group are beds easily
reached at many points and convertible into hrst-
class coke. These the beds that Mr.. Elkins
and his associates are drawing Oh neor Davis, and
frequent drlings show them 10 be equally rich
in other places. In this neighborhood, near the
Great Kanawha River, they attain vast proper.
tions The third group constitutes the Barren
Treasures" socalled because of their poor yield.
But above them and next the surface are great
deposits Of the most valuable varieties, one Of
which is the famous "Pittsburg ven.' This
is IL continuation of the seam that furnishes the
celebrated Connellsville coke. Ii lies In sheet
in the valley west of the Alleghanles, WIN the
centre buried beneath heavy masses Of rock and
earth. the eastern edge resting the mountain
peaks and the other protrudng from the ground
near Wheeling. At one time its exposed surface
was probably unbroken; but the water has since
cut into it great grooves in all directions and In
many places it remains only in isolated patches
in the hilltops In Kentucky all of the lower
West virginia cOal-measures recur, but this seam
passes into the air over her talest SUBMITS, from
a point in this State within stones throw OF
the border.
II is one thing TO own treasure, and another
thing to be able to reach il. In England the
coal now lies half 4 mile below the surface. and
To extract it means years of labor ami expense.
In West Virginia some of the best veins lie eN-
posed ~ the daylight. Along TIE kanawha and
the Monongahela it crops out constantly above
the water-lcyel. Lime burners and tanners use
mother earth as a coal yard. In the dense for
ests south of the Kanawha the ground is literally
bulging 1t seems" says geologist, as though
somebody had gone through West Virginia sprink-
ling minerals and had set down his basket In
this county" One cliff, about 300 feet high,
shows the exposed edges Of veins agGregating ~
feet IN thickness. Around Wheeling the hills are
intersected with burrows from which thousands
Of tons were taken before natural gas was In
troduced, and there is enough left TO last for
generations after the last well has been drilled and
the last reservoir exhausted. Nowhere are the
mines more easily reached, and fewer hands are
required to work them than in any other coal
State except Maryland
The local coal-producer, like the California
wine-grOwcr has made the mistake OF measuring
his wares BY foreign standards. Infandcl Is
not Chateau Latte, nor is the Upper treeport
Cumberland Steam Navigation" The character
of a single vein changes often within few miles.
10 may be rich at one edge and poor at the other.
But there is no virtue in coal that some variety
Of the native product, in some part Of the S'ats
and at a greater or less depth in the earth, does
not possess. There is camel coal, harder than
anthracite, that has beer carved into finger-rings:
splint coal, for feeding FORCES shiny coal, that
blazes on the hearth like shavings: soft coal, for
turning the engines Of ocean steamships and
tough COAL that baIles in coke oven and bears up
masses of ore and limestone in a furnace with
out collapsing. There is coal that never crum.
blcs coal with white ash red ash ana butt ash;
coal without cinIler; coal free from the phos-
phorus tnot makes lion brittle: coal from which
oil may be distilled; coal for cooking in kitchen
ranges, and coal for lighting cities with gas.
Thanks to Natures generous disposition, the
coal is mined with comparatively little risk.
In slope or drift mines access is more easy
than in shafts. and the deadly damps' are rare
Occasionally small pocket OF gas eNplodes, but
in all the mines have explored the diggers and
drivers wear naked lights in their hats and laugh
at suggestions OF peril. Falling roolslate they
fear, and they are sometimes damned between
the cars that rattle up and down the long, l0w
galleries in the dark. Bet the West Virginia
collier is model worker lie tolls without
seldom strikes, believes in baths. AMI
never runs amucll with razor or stiletto. lie has
money in the bank, his children wear flannel petit
coats and his dlnner-pal contains Brobdinen agian
chunks OF meat and pic. He OWLS his own homs
and likes society, and, after groyeling all day IN
/ he mine Dust with his ear near the floor, hewing
a niche along the base OF drift face he may
be met in clean SHIFT in the evening playing
fiddle at church sociabes,' or discussing the
tarifi at local debating clubs
What is being done 10 dtlizc al, this wealth.
Years ago the kanawha coal was used on rail-
roads in Cuba and burned III the furnaces
OF the New-lork ana Harlem steamboats, before
the elevated roads were built. Then the State
ranked seventh among the coal-producers Of the
Mon. Last year she ranked foarth In coal pro-
uctiOn. and second coke. The OUTPUT, mean
tnnc has trebled: 1000 mines are at work.
new mine is opened every three weeks Tho
railroads black with dust from the cars that
run over them to all points Of the compass. Huge
stern wheel steamers every day go pulling down
the Ohio tributaries, towing strings OF deep
laden bargex There is more coal now in demand
han there are men to mine IT, wagons or boats
10 transport it. The new railroads that are press
ing forward into the adjacent counties will have
more freight than they can handle the momene
their wheels begin 10 turn. and this IN spite Of
tho L.. ri of cnnfral llat lmlfa