The Washington bee., 1907-03-23
HARDC0AL CENTENARY
TO BE CELEBRATED BY WILKES
BARRE, PA, NEXT YEAR.
Anthracite First Burned in Open
Crate on February II, 18o8-Sup-
posed Original Fireplace
Found to Be a Dupi-
cate.


1908, WiIkesbarre is to celebrate the
Tooth anniversary of the day on which
anthracite coal was first burned in an
open CRATE. Incidentally the ruthless
searcher after facts has shown that
what was supposed to be history was
merely tradition, for it has been
learned that the original CRATE is not
now in existence and that the CRATE
now carefully preserved in the Fell
House in Wilkesbarre as the original
IS a duplicate which was placed in
the original fireplace in 1878.
Before the experiment made by
Judge Jesse Fell in his tavern in
Wilkesbarre and Easton turnpike,
now Northampton street, anthracite
coal was held to be of little value, for
it was thought that it would not burn,
except under forced draught. By
burning anthracite in an open crate
Judge Fell opened the way to an in
dustry which now gives employment
to 168, 900 men, who produced 6O,OOO,-
900 tons of anthracite annually, and
which has given millions of dollars in
royalties to the owners of the lands.
Just so years after his experiment
four young men were travelling to-
ward WilkesbarTe. One of them was
a grandson of Judge Fell. He had
that day been reading in an old copy
of a we'll known Masonic book an ac-
count of the experiment made by his
grandfather When he mentioned 1t
one of the members Of the party re-
called that the experiment had been
made Just so years before. The
young men determined that some
thing must be done to celebrate the
occasion.
When they arrived in Wilkesbarre
they called a public meeting, to be
held in the same old tavern in which
Judge Fell made his experiment. The
four young men were James Platter
Da07is. a grandson Of Judge Fell;
T Martyr Hoyt, afterward gov
erlor Of Pennylvania; John Butler
Conyngham and Stanley Woodward,
afterward a leading Ia of the
state.
the Wyoming Historical and GeOlogi-
cal society. 1t is this organization
that now proposes to celebrate the
Tooth anniversary of the experiment
of Judge Fell.
1t was at a meeting of the society
that the facts concerning the old
Jesse Fell CRATE were learned. A pa
, per on where is the CRATE on which
Jesse Fell made his successful eX-
pertinent of burning anthracite cOal?"
was read before the meeting by Rev.
H. z. Hayden.
Mr.. Hayden has come to the con-
clusion that the original CRATE is not
now in existence. and that the only
we'll authenticated CRATE extant be-
longing to Judge Fell" is that hereto
fore known as the Kiernan or Eick
crate and now in the possession of
, the society.
Concerning the original CRATE as
I many as six statements are made.
The first is that the crate was made
of hickory withes. Mr.. Hayden de-
cIares this untrue.
Next comes the Marble CRATE, so
| called because its claims were first
put forth by Col. J. NJ. c. Marble,
president of the First National bank
of Los Angeles. He states that while
visiting his grandfather at Wyoming
/ he was told the story of Judge Fell's
| experiment.
According to this story some iron
| bars were set in the old chimney,
] which is still in existence in the Fell
house, bricks were piled in front and
on the sides and on the iron bars a
fire of hickory wood was built. Coal
was then procured and placed on the
| fire, and it burned nicely.
Judge Fell was so pleased, the story
continues, that he took out this CRATE
and had another more substantial one
made on the following day. This, then,
! disposes of the original CRATE.
I In 1858 there was no CRATE in the
| fireplace. The projectors of the his
/ tOrical society secured from a Mr..
Carpenter an old crate which had
! been used by Judge Fell and placed it
in the fireplace for this celebration.
The old CRATE was worn out, and
whether it was the one made by
| Judge Fell after his first experiment
or what became of it afterward is not
known.
Later in Judge Fells life he mar
ried a widow named Culver. When
in 1880 they moved from the old Fell
house they took the CRATE with them,
and this is the crate now in the pos
session of the Historical society.
The old CRATE now in the original
fireplace at the Fell house, was, ac-
cording to Capt. Calvin Parsons
placed in the fireplace by him in 1878
when a centennial celebration was
held for the Wyoming massacre.
When in 1906 the original tavern
was torn down the old fireplace and
chimney were preserved intact and
now occupy a place of honor in the
/ new building.
Whiskers Burned; Gets S1o1.