The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1902-12-09

sylvania anthracite regions exceeded
s,500,000 tons, and for the year 1864
the average price of bituminous coal
at New York was almost one dollar
per ton higher than that of anthracite
-$7.6S as against $6.75.
1t was not until coal began to be
used extensively in the iron industry
and the railroads made possible the
transportation of coal for longer dis
tances during all parts of the year
that the production of coal. and BIZ
luminous coal more particularly, re-
ceived its chief impetus. Although
in Great Britain the use of coal for
iron smelling dates back to the
eighteenth century, the use of char
coal having been completely discarded
at the beginning of the nineteenth
century, the only fuel used in. Amer
lean blast furnaces until about 1910
was charcoal. This was quite natural,
as with the abundance of large for
ests the charcoal used for the manu-
facture was relatively cheap, and
transportation of the charcoal was
less difficult than that of COAL The
introduction of anthracite and btu
minous coal in the manufacture of
| pig iron created revolution in the
whole iron industry of the country
Facilities for the manufacture of
iron were increased; districts which
had been virtually closed to the man
ufacture because of local scarcity
OF charcoal were now opened to it;
production increased on large
scale, causing cheapening of prices
and growing consumption.
Of the two forms of mineral fuel,
anthracite was the first to be large
| ly used in the iron industry, and it
was only at a comparatively recent
| period that the relative popularity of
| the two kinds of fuel for blast-fur-
mace use has now just been re-
/ versed.
One great factor which caused the
remarkable growth of the bituminous
coal industry was the rapid growth of
| the railway system in this country,
especially after the civil war. The,
building of railways, interrupted by
the civil war, proceeded, as is we'll
known, at most rapid rate during
the last years of the sixties and the
| decade beginning with the year 1871.
| From little over $4,000 miles in 1865
the number of miles of railroad con-
| structed and operated rose to over
! 100000 miles in 1881, and over $4,000
in 1901; i. e., had almost trebled with
in the 16 years, and grown almost
sevenfold by 1901. The effect of this
development on the eastern and CEN
trail coal producing states (Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio, Indiana and luinois) was
twofold. First, by increasing the de-
nAand for iron as ma terial for the COM
struction of the railways, thus adding
to the existing demand for coal, and,
second, by opening opportunities and
outlets to the shipment of coal west
ward, both for the use of the railway s.
themselves and the various industries
that spring up with the advent of the
railways. Coal constituting the largest
item of expenditure in railway trans
portation, especially in this country,
where distances are greater than any
where else in the world, the railways
became naturally interested from the
very beginning in obtaining their fuel
at the cheapest possible price. This
explains the close connection of the
growth of our railway system with
that of the coal industry during the
past three decades.
Since the beginning Pennsylvania
has been the keystone" state for the
production of coal, and the mining of
this valuable material has centered in
this region. Both in the production OF
anthracite and bituminous coal Penn
sylvania has always been in the lead
and this precedence has been main
tanned to the present time. The Penn
sylvania mines are part of the great
chain which follows the Appalachian
Mountain system, but in no part of the
country, or in fact of the world, are
the mines so famous or so rich as in
this state. In the following pages the
distribution of the coal-mining indus
try among the various states will be
followed for the last 90 years only
During this period there has been al
immense development of the mining
industry, the total output of anthra
cite increasing from 2S,621 900 tons il
1880 to 60,3O2000 gross tons in 1901
while the output of bituminous in
creased during the same period from
41,s57,0oO to 201 ,571 900 gross tons.
The production of anthracite may
be said to have taken place entirely il
the state of Pennsylvania. While there
has been from time to time production
of anthracite on small scale in Rhode
Island, Virginia, Colorado and New
Mexico, the production in those state.