The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1893-06-23
HAzLETON AND VICINITY.

!, ,., 'N"S, Juhs IN,
the Wyoming Classis met in the Re.
formed church at Hazleton. | do not
propose to give publicity to the delib.
erations of that body although they
were highly interesting and edifying
and no doubt would interest the gen
eral public. I will merely speak of
the hospitality of the Haz!eton people,
OF the adjacent scenery, and of the
excursion the kind people of the Re-
formed church Of that place gave to
all the members of Classis wto were
not otherwise engaged.
On Saturday afternoon, June 10th
four horse omnibus and a two horse
hack appeared in front of the church
where the cxcursionists were anxiously
in waiting The first objective point
was the Mountain house overlooking
Butler valley. The weather was in
tensely warm. Threatening showers
and distant thunder were seen and
heard in all directions. The atmos-
phere was heavily charged with
smoky haze ard the scenery was grand
beyond description.
The hazy condition of the atmos
phere added double beauty to the pic
turesque landscape stretched out in
the distance below us. After indulg-
ing in glass Of refreshing lemonade we
were driven to the strippings of the
coal mines where the wonders of ma
ture are still more mysterious. After
securing a mine boss for guide we
were shown all the operations of min.
ing coal without entering the mines.
Stripping the coal is a process of un-
covering the coal, or removing the
covering of earth and rock which ex-
poses the coal where it can be mined
without going underneath the ground.
The guide led US to great troughs,
four hundred yards in length, and from
us to 200 feet in depth, and proba-
bly, 500 feet in width, from which all
the coal and earth were removed. The
sides of the troughs from the bottom
upward inclined at about the same
angles on either side, hence the slopes
Of the sides were about the same. In
some places however, they approached
the perpendicular. We were also
shown other troughs (veins) where the
earth and rock we're removed, and the
coal yet remaining. These mines had
4 all been worked years ago, and the
stripping revealed all the work done
underground. Here is seen the drift,
or slope, lengthwise along the bottom
Of the trough and the chambers about
every forty feet apart, up either side of
the trough where the coal had pre-
viously been removed and the pillars,
OF supports left standing. Imagine a
trough seven to ten miles in length
with occasional breaks, IT'S to 400 feet
in depth and 500 feet in width, "honey
combed" by miners years ago and
is now being stripped tor. the pillars.
You have some faint idea Of the
cost of mining coal and of the great
profit there must be in coal mining,
otherwise no company could afford to
strip the coal. We were told by our
guide that in places the coal vein was
IS feet in depth. The lnquiring mind
may wonder what they do with all the
earth taken from the top of the coal.
The great troughs, or basins from
which the coal and earth were removed
become depositaries for other strip
pings. The earth above the rockbed
is being removed by means of pow
erful engine and machinery which
scrapes up ton Of earth no doubt al
every lift, and dumps it in car and
thence is conveyed on track to a
vacant trough as above described.
Walking along on either side of
trough of the strippings where the Goa
is not yet removed, misstep or sliT
would precipitate one down slope
into a chamber to be picked up at the
bottom of the trough mass of mang
led and wrecked humanity. Since my
visit to the strippings l have become
still more sceptical on geological the
ory of the coal formation than evel
heretofore.
| A more kind and hospitable people
than the Hazleton people l have neve
met. The spirit of hospitality seems
to characterize the whole city. Othe
points of interest visited, but de
scription would make the article too
lengthy. ]. c. WENNER'