The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1908-12-16

l 10 G'oiO Al'd experts, Il' territory
contiguous 10 this city is a par, OF IN,
great coal region. covering "a large
| portion of eastern oklahoma aud oN.
tending northwest 10 Fort smith.
Ark 10 SIS certain however hat it,
is only iu parts of this field lll ont
Iby the scientists that col' can bc
mined successfully ard proftably.
| The mining region surrounding Coal.
gate and Lehtgn o. one Of these '.v.
ored parts. anu 'l. mncs take raus
with those Of NcAlcster and other
great coal centers of the state. give
employment and good pay to thous.
ands Of men, makes Little Coal" one
Of the most important counties in ID,
great new state.
This is what is known as deep
/ coal The coal lays in slopes like a
/ hillside, and Is mined from 500 to
/ zoo feet below the surface This
would seem serious handicap TO the
operators. but there are favorable con
! ditious IN the thickness Of the vein
ana quality OF the product. which
more than offset the apparent disad.
yantagcs and enable these mines 70
successfully compete with the shall
low or surface coal fields.
= Coal was first discovered in this vi
cluity I'm 1852. at Midway. three miles
south Of Lchigh This is still a pay.
ing mine and is now operated by the
Folsom.Moore Coal company.
/ Altogether there are in the district
now nine openings" as the miners
say, located in a territory approx
mately eight miles north and south
by thre miles east and west Dan
Mclaughlin, local manager Of the
: Coalgate company, estimates the mum
her of men employed in and about all
the mines at $500. whose wages will
average $3.50 per day. This does not
include the work of furnishing the
timbers for the mines, which of itself
may be said to form quite an industry
and consumes small sized forest
each year. Most Of the timbers are
shipped from Tupolo a little town on
the Katy. 10 miles west of Coalgato.
The Western Coal Il Mining Co.
operates three mines at Lehigh. The
VI. X. a T. railroad has three mines
and the Coalgate company one at
Coalgate. The daily output Of all the
mines. when working at full capacity.
as they are now, is estimated at 10000
tons Prospecting has been going on
in the Tupclo neighborhood AM the
wise ones say that there is plenty of
coal at a reasonable depth in that 10.
calIty which viii some day make IL
the big mining center of the district.
About 5000 people live i'm Coalgato
and the population Of Lchigh is 1000
This estimate includes an who really
live In the two towns, and not merely
those who live within the limits of the
two little territory towusitos Al least
on".half of the Inhabitants of Coal
county live within tbs bounds of the
coal district
Comparatively few accidents have
ever happened in this district. but a
very slight acquaintance with the work
will convince anyone that the occu.
patton Of coal digger is very
/, dangerous one The miner proper.
goes 10 work in the morning. He is
left down the main shaft or entrance
a few hundred feet or few hundred
yards as The case may be. TO his "Iey-
IoL' He then follows his ENTRY" to
where his room Is located. These
entries I'm the mines bear the same re-
Iaiion 10 the rooms whore the miners
work as streets do to houses I'm cities.
The main entries ra5iato from the
main shaft with cross entries. con.
meeting them whore necessary. On ar
riving az his room the miner clears
away the coal blasted away the night
before and loads It on the mule car
which is I'm the entry or it may be
pushed away into his room. If It is a
dep one. ON temporary tracks. lie
then makes his cutting digging be-
low, above and around the block of
coal at the end of his tunael which
%" expects shall be blasted Off next:
then timbers mp the room as far as
me- has worked. These timbers hold up
the earth from above, and many a
miner has lost his life by careless or
Insufficient timbering. The miner then
,drills his holes into the face of the