The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-12-26
From the Pittsburg News.

tablishment Of Industrial interests.
From the Pittsburg News.
West Virginia is the coming state of
the union in the production of coal ana
COKE particularly in the former. The
adoption of by-product coke ovens as
the methods of that process of coke
manufacture become more practical,
may operate against west virginia
succeeding western Pennsylvania as
the center of output for the spongy
fuel, but undoubtedly the Mountain
State leads all others in it's bituminous
coal and camel coal resources. renn-
sylvania, of course, Is head and shoul-
ders above all now. chiefly on account
Of the enormous production of anthra-
cite, the seams of which have been
mined for years and are rapidly being
exhausted. The coal inustry of West
Virginia is in its infancy. The possi-
bilities of production are almost incon-
ceivable.
Governor w. A. MacCorkle, of West
Virginia, who last night addressed the
Pittsburg chamber of commerce. Is the
standard bearer of his commemorative
great industrial advantages. No 9TH
er man Is better posted on its naturai
wealth and marvellous increase which
1t has made of late years in the mining
of coal, manufacture of coke. produc-
tion of oil and the development of tim
Der lands. With 1900 square miles of
coal unsurpassed in quality, and easy
to mine, l6.00O,O0O acres of virgin for
ests, a vast oil territory and agricultur-
al capabilities commensurate with the
others. it Is a hard matter to predict
the states future. From 1880 to 1893
the coal production of West Virginia
advanced from 100000 tons to 1O,9OO,-
ha 20. Of I'm.
the past three years Ii Will more than
have doubled the latter figure before
the present century Is rounded out. Ac-
tive as development has been 1t must
double and quadruple in the near fu-
ture, as there is wide field for the
safe investment of capital, for the
building of railroads, the opening of
coal mines. the establishment of wood
working enterprises and many other
industrial interests.
Governor MacCOrkle figures that
West Virginia has 5,l00 more square
miles of coal area than England, 5000
square miles more than Pennsylvania,
and 1000 square miles more than Ohio.
In the last three or four years about
twenty-five counties in the state have
been producing over 10 per cent. of
the coal mined in the United States.
The state has fifty-four counties. All
but three of them are underlaid with
workable coal. yet there are vast ter
ritories among the twenty mine cOun-
ties undeveloped filled with the finest
fuel known to commerce absolutely en-
shrouded in their solitude. There are
whole districts. not inaccessible, either
unoccupied except by the cabin of the
lonely settler or the camp of the hum
ter.
THE COAL SEAMS.
The coal districts and seams of West
Virginia are as varied as the states
resources. South of Kanawha and Fay
cite couties and the Chesapeake and
Ohio railroad is the famous Flat Top
field. with an area of 4,425 square miles
Over 100000 tons of coal We're shipped
from the mines in this region last year.
Wyoming. Raleigh. Mercer. Mcdowell.
Boone, Lincoln and Wayne counties
compose the Flat Top district. yet all
the coal output credited to it last year.
except possibly 100000 tons, came from
Mercer and Mcdowell counties. Wyo-
ming county. $50 miles in area, has the
rare combination of the Flat Top coal
veins on one side and the Kanawha
coal veins ON the other. This and ex-
tensive beds of camel coal have never
been pierced by the miners pick. Ev-
er acre of the 675 square miles in Logan
county is primed with stratas of the
New River coal. There the speculator
or the prospective operator can choose
between soft COAL steam coal, splint
coal, gas coal, camel coal and cooking
coal. Boone county Is the seat
more varied and better Goals as a whOl.
than any other county in the state. 1t
and Lincoln county contain the largest
single area of camel coal in the world.
One of the strange characteristics of
this section of West Virginia is the
,l,,. 4.
lie above the New River bed, all thick
enough to be mined. In some localities,
however, the surface is not sufficient
to the successful mining of all the
seams.
In the Kanawha district a great de-
posit of coal in the TwO-mile valley and
extensive beds of cannels and splints
on Coal river are either still in the
hands of the original owners or else
being held by spectators. The kellys
creek and Elk river valley Goals are
unknown to the market. Roane. jack
son, Clay, Webster and Broxton coun-
ties also come within the Elk river
region, and though capable of great
output are barren of production. The
vast productive ability of the state
will be appreciated when 1t is UNDER
stood that the great ouput. making
West Virginia the third largest pro-
complished with the rich valleys Of the
Elk, 10 miles in length, the GOuley. 115
miles in length, and the Coal, 100 miles
in length. Three hundred miles along
the GOuley and Little Kanawha COM
bined, comprising $40 square miles,
has not been penetrated by pick or
shovel. No railroads reach Grant. Gill
mer and Calhoun counties. all Of which
possess splendid Goals Gilmore coun-
ty has almost a continuous vein of the
Upper Pittsburg seam, throughout
which develops almost ten feet Of clear
coal.
APPALACHIAN SYSEM.
Though the Appalachian coal system
is strongly developed in Pennsylvania
west Of the Allegheny mountains it Is
said to have greater expanse in West
Virginia yet mining operations are
limited to four districts, the Flat Top.
New River, Central West Virginia and
Upper Monongahela.
Governor MacCorkle believes that the
older iron producing states are about
out Of ores. Pennsylvania and Ohio
are practically the only states that
have their own coal and no ore OF any
consequence. The governors predic-
ton Is that in twenty years the Vir-
ginias, Kentucky, Alabama and Ten
nessee will be the cheapest iron pro-
ducting sections in the country. He
speculates largely on the adaptability
) OF the West Virginia ores to cheap
mining and the proximity Of fuel
If there Is one thing West Virginia