Birmingham state herald., 1897-02-26
IFS PERSONNEL AND MASIER MINDS

prisoned wealth as the Tennessee Coal Iron & Railway company. It needs only the touch of the wand of the geni1 of h. dustry and Demand to set this wealth free. Coal is the basis of mineral wealth If Nebuchadnezzar's image had stood upon a. block of coal with its legs or iron it would have tpified in ascending scale the importance of the mineral ana the metal. We have only to cast our eyes lo the westward and see the smoke arising from Pratt mines to remember that the black diamond is more precious than the pearly lime rock and the ruby ore. Pratt mines is the Kohinoor in the circle of precious possessions that enrich the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad compa- ny. It is valuable because the vein now being worked, rich as 1t is, is not near so valuable as the veins that lie beneath and are practically inexhaustible. Down below the Pratt seam now being worked are such well-known seams as the Douple, the New Castle, the Blue Creek. or the Pratt coal yet unworked there are 6O0O0 acres, all thoroughly tested and proved sufficient, at a daily output of 6,OOO tons, to last 175 years without touching any but the Pratt seam alone. The Pratt mines furnish quality of coal which IS unsur- passed for steam and coke making. The Birmingham district owes more to the Pratt mines TOT us eXlSlenCe lndH to dhy other agency. With the success of coke made from Pratt coal came the long line of successes in blast furnace practice which planted the iron business here to stay. Less than twenty years ago 1t was by no means certain that good coke could be made from Alabama coal on large scale, and the use of Red Noun tain ores was veXed queS- ton. 1t was said that pig iron made from Alabama ore and coke was so brit Ia thot Ioht tn hn nndpr as a curiosity. Both these statements have been proven untrue. The dark ages have passed. The Pratt mines have a regular output of 5000 tons daily and on exceptional days have risen to over 7OO0 These are the largest mines in the
 world. Nearly all the iron mills and oth- CT industries in Alabama are dependent on these mines for their supply of fuel, and large quantity is exported to South
 and Central America, Mexico and other
 countries. This coal is lamongSt the
 cheapest in the world, and is laid down at the door of the industries in Birming- ham for less than $1 a ton. Without this supply it Is difficult to see where the various industries, railroads, rolling mills, cotton mills and other public works and the market would obtain their SUD- ply. The mines are not affected by cll- ma tic changes, and can be operated the whole year without intermission. The quality and analysis of both coal and coke are excellent, as is shown by the fact that it is preferred by all the fur naces and works in the district, who smelt the red ore by a consumption of one and one-third tons of coke to three of ore. It is the mainstay of the Bir- mingham district, and virtually controls the field. It's position in this respect is similar to the Connellsville district in Pennsylvania and the Durham in the north of England. The company sup plies from this point the coke used at it's Ensley, Alice and Oxmoor furnaces The Pratt mines railroad uses 400 cars for coal and 100 for coke, in addition to six passenger coaches. There are SOY coke ovens operated by the company at Pratt. They are all of the modern beehive pat tern, the majority being 12 feet diameter and 61s feet high. Until 1892 all of the coke made was from run-of-the-mines coal, no slack of any kind being used During the latter part of last year Robinson coal washer was put in operation, having capacity of 400 tons day, and the results were so satisfactory that further 1nStahpN ments were made until now every pound of coke is made from washed slack. fIhe result has been great saving to the company. The company has three Rob inson- Ramsay and one Ramsay coal
 washers at this division. Improved shaking screens are used at the majority of the mines with the best results.
 The Blue Creek coal mines are about six miles from Bessemer, where nearly all the coal mined at these mines and the coke made therefrom Is consumed There is in the basin about 5000 acres of the Blue Creek coal seam. averaging eight feet in thickness, and yielding 1O,- GOO toms per acre. The coal is especially easy to mine, being very soft. A man can mine and load eight tons per days work At present there are opened and in operation three large mining plants located at Adger, Johns and Sumter. The company owns the land for large areas surrounding the mines, and is therefore exempt from outside interference The company owns other valuable mines at Henry Ellen, Blocton, etc. The com pany has a very equitable arrangement with its miners, by which the price for mining is fixed by the price for iron. A committee appointed by the miners waits on the officials of the company on the first of each month and examines the books to see the prevailing price of pig from
 The company owns valuable coal lands, ore lands, and furnaces, at Tracy City, Cowan, South Pittsburg and oth r points in Tennessee. The total number of acres owned by the company in Alabama and Tennessee is 35254S. Of this amount 1t owns 24O,S07 acres in Alabama and 111,741 in Tennessee. Its holdings in Alabama is divided as follows: War rior coal field, IF, ,04S $; Cahaba coal field, 72,04S; Red Mountain ores, 15,225; red ores, not Red mountain, 3,243; brown ores. II, ,lb5, unclaSSlneu, Zl, 4SO. The com pany has grown to its present mammoth proportions by degrees. The original charter of the company was granted by th= Legislature of Tennessee in 1860, and it afterwards acquired the properties of the Sewanee Mining company, the South ern States Coal, Iron and Land company and the Sewanee Furnace company, all in Tennessee. In 1886 it acquired the properties of the Alice Furnace com pany, the Pratt Coal and Iron company
 AL T. twxwz rn~lrG ah mingham. In 1892 1t acquired the prop critics of the DeBardeleben Coal and Iron company, and the Cahaba Coal Mining company, also near this city. For con yenience of working, the properties of the company are grouped in divisions, and these divisions are in charge of a super