The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-08-15

.H..H HTTFEa NET
Mcdowell, Roanoke. Arlington, Green
brlcr swelled the number OF collerIes and
lIynnced the shipments OF the field 10
y, is2,O y tons. 1891 brought into life J,
\. lirowning, Ashland and Indian Ridge.
ana tho shipments uf the field reached
thcir maximum, S,liS,00O .tOns-thc out
put or !thlrty.e!ght c0lilerleS. 1895 was
INC strike year. aud the production fell
10 . g9!, 600 tons.
The development OF the coke Industry
OF this Held u perhaps even more inter-
cStlnE than tho marketing OF the coal.
Flat Top coke had To conquer n market
Tor itself, aud while tho struggle wna u
hard one. looking back upon Il now from
the beginning and having In view tho
llurClS that have been won, II seems
hiatt Ercat field was waiting to be Gun
ltcrcd. beginning In 1883 with the pro-
Iuct OF one concern. and that less than
10000 tons. tho coke shipments had
reached In 1887, 10000 tOns-Lthc product
Of Ave works, In 1899 twcnty-Onc con.
Germs shipped $4,000 tons. High water
mark wna reached In 1894, when the
total shipments wer. 722, 900 tons, drop
ping In 1895 to Gi1 900 tons shipped by
thirty-slN concerns, Operators In thIa
field explain It's phenomenal success by
saying that the Flat Top Is beyond 1uea-
ton the finest coal field In the world, Il
claim which men In rival fields must
dispute, II It IL to be disputed at oil. L
an not expert enough to determine the
question, but | would be very glad ;oOwn
the Flat Top Held. mentioned this TO
an operator, who said that II business
did not Improve 0 he. Tor one. would
he glad 10 let So his interests at a panic
price.
In addition to the general depression
OF business, Il big New England railroad
contract has been taken from this field
md given 10 Nova Scotia. \ coal dig
ger who knew OF this business occur
renee said to me that Mr.. William ].
bryan, tho pOpOcratIc nominee FOR Pres
ident, might think that coal needs no
talin protection. but he did not believe
Mr., Bryan would find n coal miner III
West Virginia "a agree VIA him. And
this recalls the ftct that wien our West
Virginia operators went u Washington
TO protest against the threatened treat
mcnt OF coal hy the Democratic ways
and means committee, they came Into
early and sharp collision with Mr.. VIII
lam Jennings bryan. who vas quick 30
let them know that II nc had his way he
would put coal where he would put wool
the free list. llr, Bryan compelled
the visiting West Virginia Democrats TO
give him II piece of their collective mind.
The coal diggrrS In WeIt NirEiuin, SO
tar as | have met them In this cnmpIicn.
do not need any instruction about Mr..
Rryan's attitude with regard to their in
huStry; aud unless | am much mistaken,
nc is wen weaker than his party with
them,
There IL rnom for more development
in this region In Mercer. Mcdowell.
Wyoming, Raleigh and Fayctte counties
Of II " state, and a part OF Taze-
well county, Virginia. this field takes In
about 500, 600 acres. With good business
conditions the interrupted development
Will be taken up and pushed forward to
add TO the population and available
wealth OF West Virginia. Some OF these
days when | get the time and the mater
ial | want TO write Il sketch Of John
Cooper. the pioneer OF this great Goa
field, an EIEllShnian by birth. rs stall
wart and representative an American as
| know anywhere. John Cooper was
born In South StafforIshir. In 1872. EIla
father was a coal miner and the boy got
into a coal mine before he was seven
years old. That was tn" beginning OF n
wonderfully successful career. He
caInr 10 this country very young and
worked In the Pennsylvania mines IN
III 1873, when h. came TO West Virginia
and went to work on the line OF the
Chesapeake & Ohio. Some people who
knew him and believed In him. backed
John Cooper with $1,000. He took Cap
tain JO. Beury intopaTtncrShIp with him.
ThcS,. two energetic men. built Loo feet
Of incline plane aud when they had that
done. they were Just $50 in debt and still
had their way TO make. Captain Rcury
has been successful beyond the average.
John Cooper Is Interested in five opera
tiOns in the Fiat TOP. field and three or
the Chesapeake & Ohio. He has no rea-
son 10 complain. but he speaks rather
regrCtfully OF his lost opportunities In
this field. Their are ten cOllerics on
land that he could have bought at four
dollars an acre. This land yields ver
n thousand dollars an acre In royalties
and is not for sale NJ any price. An
other good friend OF mine In this field,
John D.. Hewitt, has SIMILAR cause TO
'lith ANt'N VI lFblfls tiI NNAlA 'ANN ~
Pennsylvania to offer a good thing to
onle friends whom he urged to join him.
but they thought John had the south
crn fever as they called 1t. and de-
cllncd 10 step into wealth.
Speaking OF John Hewitt brings to
mind Bramwell, where he lives. Hram-
well Is the commercial center OF the Flat
Top coal Geld. II Is ~ li;tlc like a
mining town ag anything YOU can i'm
aglne. Nestled In n lovely little vall-y,
ErlInwCli Is neat, clean, AltGgrthc" at
tractivc, und naturally holds its head
very high. Il has about all the CONVEX
lcnc"S that could be desired. electric
Hight, OF course, and wafer works, about
which they tell me an interesting story.
The water works wcrr completed last
winter at 4 cost Of 1000. The fall from
thc reservoir tn the town Is @25 feet. SO
that tlleTr Is no occasion for fire engines.
The pressure Is so heavy that the AMI
mai life IN the water is killed and the
water tainted. Chemists who have cX-
hmlucd the water suggest that tl1h be
put IN the reservoir to feed on the de-
sirOyei animal life and purify the water.
This | am told Is 10 be dnn". Bra,nwcll
has about 1000 population within her
corporate limits. There IL a bank OF
&lo0.00O capital located in Il handsome
building " native stone. Vines cover
the walls ana take or snIncOf the new
n'ss. giving the handsome building the
respectable air that belongs to age. The
president OF this bank is Mr.. J. r. Mann,
Il young man, by the way, and II who
has the reputation o: being expert IN his
business. HramW"ll Is very proud OF
the new brick rch0ol building Just com
pletcd At 4 cost Ui 10000. II iS'a very
crrIiiahlc RctructurC. and does honor TO
the little community whose educational
interests Il is TO asrvr.
ilucficld Is out OF the coal region but
profits largely by 1t. 1t IL an important
railroa0 poInt and has como to stay. The