Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1902-08-09
KING COAL.
u. S. Geologist David White
Here Making Collections.

BreWn--This Section the Vortex of
Coal Measures.
Mr.. David White of the United
States Geological Survey, Washing
ton. D. c., has been here for few
days making excursions and collec-
tions in this county in company with
our local Biologists Prof. 5. b.
Brown and Dr. /. g. White He
was seen at hotel Peabody by a rep
resentatiye OF this paper Friday even
ing and talked very entertalningly
about the position OF West Virginia
as coal state, and OF her possibih
ties for future development.
Mr.. White was very modest IN his
references to his own work, but it
was learned that he is one of the val
ued members of the United States
Geological Survey, and he had been
sent here to make some rare eollec
tions. As a student of the upper
Paleozoic rocks he had learned that
this section contains the highest
strata of the Paleozoic age DR.. |.
&. White, our state geologist,
and Prot. Fontaine have described
some rare types OF fossils to be-
found here that were not included
in the collection at the National
Museum at Washington. and he
has come to make some collections
of these fossils for the museum.
Mr.. White paid very high com
pliment to our local biologists Dr.
l. G.. White and Prof. S b. Brown.
He says this section Is very tortu
nate in having two such eminent
scholars right here all the time.
West Virginia is also very tortu
nate in securing for state geologist
the services of such an able and rec
ognized authority as Dr. White.
He is now recognized as the leading
authority in this country On the
coal measures of the northern APP
palachian Basin, in which basin
West Virginia, and particularly this
section of the state is located. For
long time DR.. White has been rec
ognized as one of the leading author
tiles on oil and gas in this country.
The only surprise is that this state
has been so stingy in making APP
preparations for the geological sur
vey, and has limited and restricted
the work so much, when we have a
man who might have conduced to
its development on a very much
larger scale.
Mr.. White was surprised TO find
this section of West Virginia the
very vortex of the bituminous coal
measures in the eastern Appalachian
basin. He had before visited the
southern part of the state on sever
al occasions, and had gotten the i'm
preston that the great weight of
West Virginia coal was in the south
ern counties. He now finds upon
study of this section that here is the
vortex, and the richest coal deposits.
The Pennsylvania basins at Latrobe
and Scottdale are being worked out,
and the operators are pushing rap
idly into Monongalia county for new
development. Vast fields of Pitts
burg coal in southern Pennsylvania
where it lies several hundred feet
deep and was formerly considered
almost worthless, are now being
taken up by capitalists at high
prices.
The Pittsburg coal, which is the
best seam known in this section is
being well worked out in Pennsyl-
vania, and already the coal men are
beginning to work the thinner seams
in various places. The keystone
state is so accessible to the great
markets that she can mine the less
productive Goals and still compete
with other states in the markets on
account of cheap transportation.
But West Virginia is destined to
take pre- eminent place in the list
ofcoal producing states in this ba
sin, and will eventually ship her
coal right across Pennsylvania to
the markets at the Great Lakes aid
in Canada. She is now being much
retarded in development by mac
feasibility and lack of transporta
tion facilities She has been poorly
equipped with railroads These are
coming however. Her easily mined
coal will attract the railroads, and
she will take her natural place in
the front rank of coal producing
states. This county is receiving
the impetus of new development
first, because it lies right on the
border of the Pennsylvania fields,
and also because the Monongahela
valley is naturally and geologically
one of tue richest coal fields 10 the
world The topography is such that
mining is cheap, and transportation
facilities are now being much i'm
proved.
Mr.. White says the topographic
survey of this valley is being push
ed to compile ton as rapidly as DOS
sible. Several engineers and geolo-
gists are at work upon it. The
maps made from these surveys will
be very handsome sheets in colors
giving much valuable information
heretotor unpublished. Dir. White
and Prof. Brown have been loaded
down with valuable information
about this section for long time,
nIIso.s