The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1903-01-10


SOME FoREIGN-BoRN MINERS.
and at the Beaver meadows. but y e
there they had no occupation Of any
continuous strata for miles. Indeed
the coal company had offered a bonus
Of $500 to anyone who should discov-
er coal on their lands nearer to the
Lehigh than the Summit mine; but
there were no claims for discovery.
In the meantime, however, coal was
used for the forge fires Of the black
smiths in the n-eighborhood, and also
in some Of the bar-rooms in the tav-
erns along the roads not distant.
In 1907 the company, for the pur-
pose of bringing their coal into notice,
gave a lease of 81 years Of one. of their
coal veins to Rowland and Butland,
gratis, for the manufacture of iron,
from the ore and coal to be dug. 1t
failed of success. In 1913 the coal
company gave a lease of ten years OF
their lands to Messrs. est and Robin
son, conditioned that teey should take
to market annually 10000 bushels of
eoal to their own profit. Five arks
yer dispatched. Three of them were
wrecked in the Lehigh, two reached
Philadelphia and the business was
abandoned. White and Hazard gave
$50 a ton for that coal for their wire
manufactory and yet it was not
enough to meet the costs OF mining.
That attempt, however, led to fu-
ture results of permanent good for in
1917 White and Hazard, from the need
of such coal, were induced to visit the
Lehigh with George Rants, and there
the three contracted with the coal
company on a lease for 90 years, on
condition that they should take 49,
600 tons of coal annually for their
own benefit,
In 1918 they procured a legislative
grant to improve the navigation on
the Lehigh-a measure deemed almost
chimerioal by many. After some time
they procured a stock association and
went on from year to year expanding
and improving-taking. however, but
little coal to market until the year
1s2o-when they got to Philadelphia
365 tons ''as the first fruits of the con-
Germ" Little as that was, it COM
pletely stocked the market, and was
sold with difficulty. 1T increased each
subsequent year up to 1s24-making
it that year a delivery of 9,541 tons.
In 1925 it ran up to 2s,393 tons, and
kept along at nearly that rate until
1882, when it delivered 10000 tons.
From that time it went on regularly
increasing until 1889, when it had de-
livered 22l,s50 tons. And now that
it has got its momentum, wrote Wat.
son, who q guess where it win
end2"
AT the time Of the h~letorian's writ
ing no d wUufu nave mad the aud1c-
ity to guess anywhere near the real
figures Of the anthracite coal produc.
ton of Pennsylvania at the present
day. From the output of atrife over
100000 tons in 1880 the industry grew
until, in 1901, the coal fields Of the
counties Of Carbon. Columbia, Dau-
phin, Lackawanna, Luzerne, North.
cumberland, SchuyIkin and Susquehan-
ma, comprising the SehuyliiiI, Lehigh
and Wyoming regions made ship
ments Of anthracite coal amounting
to over 45,0OO.O0O tons.
For reasons inscrutable and incom.
prehensible TO man, the tremendous
furnaces Of nature fused the limftless
copper supply and deposited It IN
Arizona, where it IS grudgingly to-,
day yielding To mans demands. For
like unkuowable reasons this great in
exhaustible anthracite deposit was