The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1897-10-13
SOMERSET COAL FIELDS.
GREAT ACTIVITY MANIFESTED
THROUGHOUT THE
COUNTY.
Berwind- White Plants Operated by Elso-
tricity and Compressed Air.-The
Pick and Mule Reiegsted to
the Rear.
A PROMISING FUTURE.

great change in the character of that
region and in the character of the people,
who for more than hundred years have
followed the peaceful pursuit Of farming,
apparently unconscious of the untold
mineral wealth underlying the hills
they TILED.
The Hun, the Slav and the Austrian
are already there in considerable num-
bers, and the number of foreigners will
steadily increase until within the period
mentioned ten thousand Europeans will
make their homes along the valley Of
Paint creek, for half-century a favorite
resort of artists, attracted thither by the
unsurpassed beauty of the landscape.
The young farmers of that region, who
for so long time have been content to
follow in the footsteps of their fathers,
will find new and more tempting avenues
opening before them, and farming. SO
profitably followed by the denizens of
that region, will gradually become a
secondary consideration. as has been the
case in every active mining region.
The tranquility of Scalp has been dis
turbed throughout the summer, and for
months past the roads leading To that re-
mote country town have been crowded
with teams hauling machinery and goods
| to the new coal fields. Everything Is
hustle and hurry and all of the people
seem 10 be imbued with the idea that a
new era has already dawned, and that in
the near future Paint township will be
the most densely populated and busiest
district in Somerset county.
Abort four years ago agents of the
Berwind-W Coal Company, the larg-
est producers of bituminous coal in the
United States, sent their agents into this
county and shortly afterwards they be-
gan 10 secure options on the coal beds in
the Scalp Level region. Later the OPP
tions were lifted and additional coal
rights were purchased outright, the cash
being paid for the same in nearly all
cases. To- day the BerwindW White people
are the owners of more than thirty
thousand acres of coal lands in this coun-
ty, representing cash outlay of not less
than SJ00,0 distributed among the farm
ers of the townships of Paint, Shade,
| Quemahoning and Jenner. All of the
deeds for the same have been or are be-
ing recorded, and in all cases perfect
title has been secured.
With the vast bed of coal under their
control, the next step was to secure rail-
road in order TO convey it to Underwater.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company
seized the opportunity TO secure the i'm
mense tonnage from the new field, and
last spring set TO work to extend the
South Fork branch of that systsn frorn
Lovett TO Scalp, a distance of twelve
miles. The territory between Lovett and
Scalp is mountainous, and the engineers
experienced considerable difficulty in
running a line, but the obstacles in the
way were overcome and some six weeks
ago the scream of the locomotive was
| first heard ia the valley of Paint creek.
The grade between Lovett and Scalp is so
heavy that it requires two of the largest
p. R. r. engines to haul 10 loaded ears be-
tween those points. This grade will be
reduced, however, as the business of the
road increases, and it will multiply itself
very often in the course of few years.
While the railroad was in course of
construction the Berwind-Whi Com
pauy had a large force of men at work
opening up drifts, erecting tipples and
placing machinery in position to begin
active operations. so that the day after the
railroad ran under their tipples they were
prepared to begin shipments.
At the present time the Company have
five openings, all of them in Somerset
county. Two, now in operation, are sit
uated about three-quarters of a mile
southwest of the town of Scalp, while
the others are perhaps one mile south
east of the village. Two switches, both
doub track, start Immediately north of
Scalp, running to each of the plants and
leaving the village in the mouth of the
"Y."
At the southwest opening a large en-
gine house, boiler house and other neces-
sary buildings have been erected. In
the engine house are located immense
electrical and compressed air plants.
The openings are headed up by solid ma
sonry such as is to he seen at the POI tails
of railroad tunnel, while two tracks of
heavy steel rails run into the mines. over
these tracks three electric motors glide,
capable of hauling sixty loaded coal cars
each from the heading TO the tipple, with
the swiffness of trolley car, and splitting
out bits of blue lightning at frequent in-
tervals as they dash in and out of the
opening.
Back in the headings "diggers" operat-
ed by compressed air and directed by
skillful miners are chopping away at the
bottom of the four-foot seam of coal and
kicking up as much dust as whirlwind
on desert, while miners are shooting"
the coal above and shoveling it into cars.
A contrast of the Berwind- White open
ing at this point with local ''coal mine,"
only few rods away is interesting. At
the latter, coal is dug by man lying on
his back, and afterwards shoveled into
car and pushed out of the drift by main
strength. II is no wonder, therefore, that
a crowd of people is to be found standing
around the portals of the new openings
| in wide eyed amazement at the scene OF
activity before them, where coal is dug
without picks and hauled into the open
air without the assistance of nsan or mule.
Every piece ofwork being done in the
new field is with an eye TO tine future, and
as a result every article of labor-saving
machinery known to mining has been,
and is being introduced. An air Of per-
| manency surrounds the work, and build
ings and machinery are being built 10
withstand the demands of the future.
The new town of Windber is located
southeast of Scllp, beginning at point
about 100 yards from the village and ex-
tending possibly a mile in that direction.
| The site selected for the town is beauti-
ful one, lying on hill gently rising from
the bank of Paint creek TO the crest of the
hill half-mile to the north. The site
was overgown with virgin forest a few
months ago and, with the exception OF
the streets which have been cleared, is
studded with stumps to-day. a steam
saw-mill played prominent part in
clearing the site of Windber, and as a re-
suit great piles of sawed lumber are on
the ground waiting to form parts Of the
houses that will rapidly spring up there.
At the present time only one dwelling
house has been erected in the town of
windber, although one hundred lots
have been disposed of and sales are be-
ing consummated daily. The houses
erected by the Coal Company referred to