Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1898-04-20
HANCOCK COAL.
ELLSWORTH MAN SAYS COUNTY
is FULL OF IT.
EXTENSIVE COAL FIELDS IN UP-RIVER
PLANTATIONS - THERE'S MONEY
IN ITh SAYS NJ. $. SMITH
From .he Bangor H-htgand Courier.

there was n rumor current in tins town
that coal had been discovered in great
quantities in some Of the townships of
Hancock county. 1t WAS said that acres
OF wild hand bud been found rich in the
precious deposit and that spectators
We're negotiating for big tracts OF land
whict, had been neid almost worthless up
to this time
Little credenee was given the story by
Ellsworth people. They were too old in
experience of mining scares to take
rumor without discount on its face
value. But there was more foundation
for this elaborate fiction than was sup
posed.
Coal beds measured by the mile lie in
Hancock and Penobscot counties, wait
ing to be mined. IL good advices are to
be believed, bitaminous coal could be
sold at profit to the miners, for 80
ton landed in Bangor. Just think what
that would mean to Maine!
The man who holds the keys to the
coal beds is NJ. ). Smith, a well-known
business man of this city, who has had
considerable experience as a miner, and
whose principal avocation through life
has been the pursuit of geological re-
search. Mr. Smith is ready to turn his
keys, which, by the way, are in the form
OF bonds and deeds, into the keeping of
any fair dealing capitalists who wish to
work the ore bearing lands.
The facts as set forth by him in an in
terview by the Wing correspondent are
given below. Mr.. Smith is not the man
fa mil
which he will not stand. He has every
reason for speaking the truth.
The finding OF coal happened while
Mr.. Smith was searching for different
mineral. In August, 1896, a story
reached him that in Lead mountain in
township IS OF Hancock county, the In
dians who once dwelt in the region had
found a mineral supposed to have been
native lead. He arranged his affairs at
home and started for an exploration Of
the mountain and its yield. In his
opinion Lead mountain was not rightly
named, for no trace of the mineral " hich
was its nRmesake was found. The
prospector thinks that perhaps the In
disns struck native silver. He gave the
mountain a thorough inspection and also
visited township % and the southern
part OF township d, prospecting all the
while.
In township 30 the first coal-tiel was
found. Onthe west side OF this township
a strip OF woodland mile wide and six
miles long, known as the "Farrar strip,
was found to be vertabe coai-bed,
far as surface indications could be fol-
lowed.
Mr.. Smith obtained a bond of this strip
of Whitcomb, Haynes x Co., OF Ellsworth
Falls, soon after completing his prospect
ing tour. The bond is still in his posses
sion.
But his explorations did not stop here.
He learned from some OF his friends up
the river that man named Madden while
digging a we'll on his farm i'll Green
field, township in Penobscot county,
and only about twenty-five miles from
Bangor, had struck coal at a depth Of
twenty feet below the surface. Madden
was forced to abandon the well on ac-
count Of the presence OF the mineral.
Investigation proved that great portion
of Greenfield was rich in deposits of coal.
The heat giving mineral was found on
the surface in swale and in level field
and half mile to the east of the farm
owned by Prince A. Hall coal had cropped
out upon the ground.
This coal was found I'm part of a vein
running at least seven miles northeast
and southwest and being a mile in width.
Mr.. Smith prospected this region care
fully. In his opinion it is large coal
aIJ do t,tu
ting any OF the deposit except where it
cropped out in sigh which does not hap
pen with frequency.
The out-cropping was all of btuminous
coal. At Greenfield Mr.. Smith WAS told
some of it had been used to weld toe
calk to horseshoe. side the proof of
coal as shown by the surface deposits,
blackened grass bespeaking the presence
of mineral oil petroleum was seen by
the prospector; and he was told that a
boiling spring in the locality was spoiled
by the flowing into it OF petroleum,
which could be skinned from the spring.
From he nature of coal deposits it is
not possible to tell by surface indications
how much coal may be mined in certain |
area but there is doubtless vast amount |
OF the mineral in the sections which Mr.. |
Smith visited. He has gone to consider
able expense to obtain surveys, maps, and
bonds for leases OF the ore bearing town
ships, which he regards as continuation
of he New Brunswick coal fields.
natural question is, "Why have not
the deposits been mined?" To this there .
are several answers. The all-important /
consideration is the great expense at
tendant on the operations. Mr.. Smith is
not man of wealth and he did not then |
have, nor has he now, funds available for
opening the work. The first outlay is so |
AnnertiS