The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-06
NOT ENOUGH CARS.
Increasing Coal Production. in Ken
 lucky and Tennessee.

Increasing Coal Production. in Ken lucky and Tennessee.
 Baltimore, Md, May 5.-(Speclal. )--- Special correspondence from Middles- boro, Ky, in this weeks issue of The Manufacturers Record says:
 50 great has been the traffic in the Middlesboro and Jellico coal districts of Kentucky and Tennessee during the past few months that the railroad com panies have not been able to meet the demand for cars, and in some instances operators have had to curtail the out put of their mines as a result Of nos being able to obtain cars. Mining has been steadily increasing during the winter. and the output of the Middles- boro district alone now aggregates 5000 cars monthly, while the Jelllco district is furnishing a steadily in- creasing amount With the beginning of the summer season work on various railroad extensions Is being renewed with increased vigor, and several im- portant coal fields in Kentucky, Ten nessee and Virginia districts will be opened up for development during the coming year. During the past winter large amount of new capital has entered the field. and quite number of new mines have been opened up, the good facilities for marketing the pro duct both in the North and the South
 
 coal deposits making this region espe- cially Inviting to capitalists.
 This month marked the completion of the Louisville and Nashville new line from Jellico, Tenn, to Knoxville. and the traffic along that line promises to be enormous within the next few years. The new line not only gives the Louisville and Nashville another through South, but along the thirty eight miles of the recently completed work a rlcn coal and timber territory has been opened up for development. Already mining Is under way, and the new line has quite considerable amount of traffic to start with. Most of the territory is controlled by the Lafollette Coal, Iron and Railway Com pany, which will develop mines at va rious points along the road, and none but the best machinery will be in- stalled. Besides this concern, tow smaller companies will open up mines during the coming year.
 .'The Southern Railway and the Louisville and Nashville are jointly building a railroad into the Clear Fork coal fields, along the kentucky-TenneS- see border, and within the course or eight months the immense deposits or coal in that region will be opened up. This territory Is situated midway be- tween the Middlesboro and Jellico dis tr1ctS proper, anu Has iohS -pSSh |" mecca for investors. However, the greater part of the available territory has for several years been owned by the American Association, composed or | American and English capitalists, who have invested many millions Of dollars in the Kentucky and Tennessee coal | fields during the past fifteen years. | This concern controls most of the coal acreage in the Middlesboro district. but In mi mi | subleasing it's holdings to developing concerns. When the Clear Fork region receives an outlet for the production | the territory of this company will be | subleased to operators.
 'The most important railroad eX- tension is that being constructed by the Chesapeake & Ohio up the valley
 of the Big Sandy River. in Easter1 | Kentucky. This line, which Will be completed through to within few miles of the West Virginia border | within a few weeks. will be seventy miles in extent, and will open mp what | is now generally regarded as the rlch, est coal field in the South. The coal
 fields of the Big Sandy valley have
 been neglected on account of theiI
 geographical situation for many years
 while the less promising fields to the | east and south have been developed Ur | a large scale, and 1t has been but , | few years that general attention mas
 been directed to the natural resources
 nf that region. The mountains con
 tiguous to the valley of tht
 Big Sandy are underlaid wstf
 eight to ten different seams oi coal all above drainage and easily and economically mined by the drift meth cd. and tests of two or three grades show them equal to any bituminous coal in any of the older fields. The
 A1.S, FrAV inches to as high as 12 feet. the most desirable grade being the Elkhorn cok- ing coal, which averages four and one half feet in thickness. Most Of the coal acreage in the Big Sandy Valley Is held by large companies, and some of these will sub-lease their holdings to operating concerns. Mining has al ready been started at some points, ana by the middle of the present year will be fairly under way. Several inter- secting lines to penetrate the narrow creek valleys will be constructed
 Activity also prevails in the older fields along the railroad lines that nave been built for fifteen or twenty years In Southeastern Kentucky the CumbeI land Railroad Company. holding con cern has begun grading twelve-mllt road up the valley of Brush creek, and | expects to have it completed within eight months. The territory which will be opened up by tho new line will be | sub-leased.
 Pennsylvania capitalists, among 1 whom is ex-Governor Stone, are al thu
 head of this movement. In this ant | other smaller movements by various concerns several hundred thousand dol lars will be expended during the com
 ing year. All of the smaller lines con meet with the Louisville and NashVlll' line.
 "Great strides have been made in th' l development of the coal fields embrace ing Eastern Kentucky. Northeastern | Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia | than in any other similar area in tho l country. and the output has Increased | in proportion. Railroads, the moving | factors, are now being supplied, and it | needs but a few years to make this ont of the most important coal fields In tho