The sun., 1903-02-08
THE SUM- SUNDAY FEBRUARY s, 1903.

INNING industry mere. Blk years later, IN
1855, still another attempt at coal mining
was made, and this, agai,. In the Cahaba
field. Then the war came on and this feeble
enterprise along with everything else In
the South went glmmering.
But for many years coal was mined
in small quantities and shipped down the
Warrior River to Mobile. Mined" how
ever, is not quite the word. "Fished for y
is nearer it,.
Negroes stripped naked dived down into
the water and brought the coal up from a
bed that existed in the bottom Of the river.
1t was not until about 1872 that coal
mining in Alabama began in earnest. IL
was small beginning as compared wit he
present output, but it meant business.
Birmingham had then been founded only
few months. Its beginning dated from
the formation Of the Elyton Land Com
pany.
Elyton, now a suburb and practically
an integral part of Birmingham, was then
the county seat OF Jefferson county. The
"old cot house" was there, and by the way
they have court house here in Birmingham.
now that cost well on toward $500 900.
Everybody said there must be big town
hereabouts one day and the ElytOn Land
Company started In to make Elyton that
town.
They bought up large tract Of land and
then asked such high prices for ii that
nobody would buy. Then came another
company, in 1871, and bought another
tract Of land, marked out place where the
future city ought to be and called the
future great city Birmingham. The fu-
ture great city then consist ed OF small
shanty standing on the site Of the present
Florence Hotel, a spot which is now sur
rounded by some square miles Of solidly
built up city--thc centre Of a wide area OF
granite, marble and brick buildings. as
well as modern steel skyscrapers.
In 1872 the making Of pig iron had been
begun tent atively and that demanded
coke. and coke demanded coal, and thus
hand in hand the Two great twin industries
of the Birmingham district, coal mining
and pig-iron making, set out on the great
career that was before them.
BY 1874 the coal-mining business had so
far developed that 5O,4OO tons were dug
out. And right here il may be cited as
an instance Of the progress that has been
made in the twenty-eight years since 1874.
that the amount Of coal mined in his district
last year was s,97I ,6l7 tons.
THE COAL AND COKE INDUSTRY.
Then came the opening OF the Pratt
mines in 1879 as a consequence Of the de-
mand by the Oxmoor Furnace for coke
and from that time iron making and
coal mining developed with astonishing
rapidty all through the district. The
figures showing the growth of the coal
mining industry in Alabama from 1880 to
and including 1901 are sufficient to tell the
story. without further comment.
In 1880 the total product ion of the State
vas 1900 tons in 1885 it was ?,492, 900
TONS in 1890 il was 1000, 400 tons; in 1895
il was 5,7O7,7l3 tons; in 1899 ii was 7,4s9,-
773 tons. In 1900 ii was S.273,362 tons in
1901 il was s,97l ,6i7 tons. Bearing in mind
the unlimited supplies Of coal in the State
so forcibly described by Mr. Johns, and then
pict uring the future with the Isthmian
Canal opened, the Gulf of Mexico turned
into anot her Mediterranean swarming with
ST cam craft and the coal fields OF Alabama
accessible to the Gulf tide water. wit h cheap
water rate transport at tion-and II is not
a dream, but a wholly sound and raj ional
forecast Of the not dist ant future and
il il possible in a way to have some not ion
Of the vast wealth-producing possibilities
in one branch alone that are ahead for this
marvellously favored State of Alabama.
The Government improvements in the
Warrior and Tombigbee rivers will soon be
complet ed, and when they are, they will
play an important part in the transporta-
tion Of coal and other heavy products OF
this region to the Gulf at Mobile. With
twent y-four feet Of water over the bar at
Mobile, this route would he the means OF
reducing the cost Of transportation to the
Atlantic sea board.
The Alabam Barge and Coal Company
has already arranged to operate a barge
line from the Warrior coal fields down the
Warrior and Tombigbee rivers, through
the Mississippi Sound and Lake BorRne
canal to New Orleans. The Alabama
Goals are now used very extensively in the
South, Southeast and Southwest and on
the Atlantic seaboard in competition with
numerous other Goals. and are exported in
large quantities To Mexico and Central
America. They have responded very fav-
orably to tests made for their use in the
United States Navy.
The coke tonnage Of the Pratt and Blue
Creek seams of the Warrior field is second
only in this country to that Of the Connells-
Vile district in Pennsylvania. The growth
Of the coke industry il shown by the follow
ing figures: In 1890 It WAS ISL tons; in
1885 il was SOl .lsO tons in 1890 il was or
a42 tons; in 1895 it was 1,444 $3.50 tons; in
1899 it was l.7ss,8l2 tons: in 1900 il was
2.Ii99l7 tons; in 1901 it was 2,lsO,e25 tons.
while in 1902 the figures will show that it
was close To 2 800 600 tons,
The ore supply Of the Birmingham dis
trct is derived principally from the red
fossiliferous ores of Red Mountaina hill
which runs right into the city limits, a solid
mass Of iron ore, over a portion OF which
are now built some Of the private resi-
dences 81 Birmingha residences, by the
way, which will compare with the fine
homes Of, say. Buffalo. which has made
Delaware avenue in that city 30 famous,
pIG IRON STATISTICS.
The vein carrying the iron ore is per-
sistent In character, running about twenty
feet thick at the outcrop and extending
under cover at an angle Of from is to
20 degrees. Some Of the slopes in the