The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-09
IN THE HARD.COAL MINES
HOW THE PENNSYLVANIA ANTHRA-
CITE FIELDS ARE WORKED.
Bringing the Product tn the Surface
of the Ground and Preparing
1t for the Market.

but IL has a new meaning. Originally 1t
| represented nothing but the coal bin. which
could be filed by telephone call at a mo-
| ments notice. Now il means vision of
pinching cold. 1t brings to view the hor-
rible spectacle of rioting mobs. 1t pictures
| want and desolation when the miner and
his family are thought of, and 1t pictures
suffering and misery when the worlds poor
! who are dependent on the miner for coal
| are considered.
This word. which has become such vital
| part of the life of the American people, is
| striking example of how the world becomes
| dependent upon what may be termed the
! latter-day progress of mankind. Just one
| hundred years ago Philadelphia received
| her first shipment of anthracite COAL 1t
came TO the city in two river arks, and
| was used to gravel the sidewalks. A small
| quantity OF this coal was burned in a CRATE,
| but the experiment was not a success, and
| in 1906, when another arkload of coal tied
| up at the wharf in the Quaker city, it was
| rejected-no one wanted 1t. In 1908 Judge
Fell. of Wikesbarre, successfully burned
| anthracite in a CRATE. In 1872 another eff
fort was made to market anthracite in
| Philadelphia, but nine wagonloads which
were sent there from Pottsville had to be
| given away.
Although the outcroppings of anthracite
| coal in the region Of Pennsylvania so rich
| in this product were so evident that an
thracite must have been known to the In
! dians, the first authentic date in connec-
ton with anthracite is 1852. In that year
ParshaH Terry and a company of Connect
| lcut pioneers found coal at the mouth of
| Mill Creek, on the banks of the Susque-
hanna, near the site of the present site
| In bod toh
blacksmith, used anthracite for fuel in his
forge. In IT'S the proprietary government
OF pennsylvania had coal ioated down the
Susquehanna river from Wilkesbarre to
| Harrisburg - then Harris Ferry - from
where it was hauled in wagons to the arse
nal at Carlisle for use in the manufacture
| of munitions of war. and similar shipments
were made annually during the revolution
airy war.
The operation of the first anthracite coal
mine was begun by John and Abijah Smith,
of Derby, Conn, who settled at Plymouth
| Pa, in 1905, and bought up large tract of
coal lands; They began shipping by arks
hanna river. 1t was necessary, however
| TO create a demand for anthracite and the
| Smith brothers usually accompanied their
| cargoes and taught the people how to burn
anthracite. AT this time anthracite sold for
| $40 ton in Baltimore and $12 a ton in New
| York, where it was used almost exclusively
| in FORCES.
BEGAN EIGHTY YEARS AGO.
The real history of the anthracite coal
industry begins In 1890, when S65 tons of
coal were shipped to Philadelphia from the
Lehigh region. During the next ten years
the trade from the Lehigh region was firm
ly established, and the Schuylkill region
was opened up upon the completion of
water communication with Philadelphia.
During the latter part Of this period the
Delaware & Hudson Canal Company was
organized, and began the shipment of an
thracite from Carbonate by the canal and
the gravity railroad.
From this time on the trade rapidly in
creased, canals and gravity roads multi
piled, only to be replaced by locomotives
on their advent: One of the first locomo-
tives used in this country was for the pur-
pose of hauling anthracite.
The process of mining anthracite coal
consists of two MISUNDERSTANDING and
CLOSED work. Stripping is the process where
the coal lies near the surface of the ground,
as IL does in many instances in the anthra-
cite field. The closed work is that done un-
der ground, or at the bottom of shaft.
room and piling system is employed. When
the shaft cannot be placed so as to reach
low is reached by inside or blind shafts, or
inside slopes. These shafts, which are
sometimes sunk to depth of over thou
sand feet, usually have several compart-
nlents, one for the pumpway and ladder,
and two or more for hosting. common
size of the hosting compartments is 7xl2
feet. The coal is brought to the bottom
of the shaft from the inside or blind shafts
by means Of small cars, and in some in
stances sheet-iron chutes, according to the
inclination of the shaft aoeording as the
tom of the shaft from the surface.
Anthracite is mined with hand rotary
drills and by black blasting powder. Dyna-
mite or giant powder Is used for rock work
sometimes for driving gangways, and in
some locations for blasting the coal itself
where fire damp necessitates a fameless
| %oI
tary fans. The law requires that each
miner shall be supplied with at least two
hundred cubic feet of air per minute. Fire
damp is prevalent in many of the anthra-
cite shafts, necessitating the use of safety
| lamps by the miners.
The cost of mining anthracite coal is
greater than the cost of mining bituminous
coal and this cost does not end when the
coal is landed at the surface of the mine
Anthracite, as 1t comes from the mine, con-
sists of Jumps of various sizes, and inter
mixeS with these lumps is a mixture OF
rocks. These Jumps must be broken and
sorted to size before the anthracite is
ready for the market, since the economic
use of anthracite requires that the Jumps
must be of near uniform size as pos
sible, and, as there is a greater demand for
the intermediate size, the larger Jumps mp
elaborate preparation greatly increases the
cost Of the coal.
PREPARING FOR MARKET.
Anthracite is prepared for market in what
is known as the coal breaker, large build
ing usually built of timber, but sometimes
| of steel and iron. The coal is broken up by
| machinery, consisting Of toothed rolls
after which it is screened in circular re-
volving screens. The slate is picked out by
hand by boys and old men, who sit along
the chutes through which the screened Goa
passes. AS far possible the work OF
sorting sizes and picking out impurities Is
done by machinery. The general plan is tc
sort the coal over inclined bars, then tc
pass what goes through the bars over re-
volving or shaking screens, while what
| goes through goes directly to the loading
bins, or else is broken up into smaller sizes
by rolls and then separated into the var
ious sizes by screens. The capacity of the
average breaker Is from two to three thou
sand tons of coal day.
The tendency of recent years has been &c
use more of the smaller sizes of anthra
cite, and consequently the breaking has
been done with this end in view.
Many estimates are given as TO the cost
| of mining and marketing anthracite. Here
| is one from the Anthracite Coal Operators
Association letter which refers particular.
ly to the smaller sizes of anthracite: Min
| ing and preparation, S1.25 per ton; trans
portation to New York. $1.S5 per ton, max
ing a total of $3.50 per ton.
| That there is limit to the supply of an
| thracite in this country is recognized by al
| authorities The extent of the anthracite
| field is but 5000 square miles 1t is located
! in the State of Pennsylvania, and, broadly
speaking is bounded on the west by ths
Susquehanna river. on the north by the
y, Of he rixar ON, ~