Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-03-24
MINE, FIRE BLOCKED
Device of Engineers to Save
Immense Coal Deposit.
SOLID WALL OF. MASONRY
Saving of Anthracite Fuel Valued
at $4,000, 100000.
ORIGIN OF BLAZE NOT KNOWN
Started More Than Fifty Years Ago
in Colliery of Lehigh Valley
Company.
SOLID WALL OF. MASONRY
ORIGIN OF BLAZE NOT KNOWN
RN WILLIAM +. CI-RTIS.

BY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
One of the most remarkable feats in
the history of engineering has recently
been accomplished near Mauch Chunk, Pa,
in order to save 4o0,0OO,OOO tons of an
thracite coal, valued at $1,000. 900, be-
longing to the Lehigh Valley Coal ana
Navigation Company, which has been on
fire for more than fifty years.
There are many burning coal mines In dill
ferent parts of the country. Some or them
have been on fire for ages. being gradu-
ally consumed. Phenomena of. this kind
are scattered along the coal belt In the
Rocky mountains, which extends from
Wyoming to Arizona, through the states
of Utah and Colorado. No one knows
how they caught fire. but there are vari-
Gus theories which have been the sub
ject of much speculation.
Three explanations are accepted: ~
That they were caused by stroke OF
lightning; CO That they were caused by
forest fires: 81 That they were caused
by Indian campfires built under the pro-
tecting lodges of the mountain. All OF
these reasons are probably sound. and
there is no doubt that many of the nres
have been burning since the days OF the
cliff jewellers, an extinct race. human
life is easily extingulshed, but Wnen
deposit of concealed combustible matter
is attacked by flames it is a different
matter.
In many cases along the cliffs which
extend for a thousand miles or more
from Wyoming to Arizona the outcrops
of the beds of coal come to the surface
and in various places may be found &C
cumulations of ashes, showing where
fires have been burning In the past. In
some places the heat of the burning coal
has beeh SO intense as to melt the rock.
Burning for Centuries.
One of the most notable fires is on the
banks Of Green river, another is on the
bank of Fremont river. where the coal
has been burning for centuries. In
canyon of the Prince river. In Utah,
where coal is now being mined there are
two fires which people have tried to ex-
tinguish in vain.
There is a burning mine on the bank
of the Ohio river the mouth of which is
situated so low that 1t is flooded annu-
ally when the high water comes In the
spring. but even that does not extineuish
the flames.
In the Bad Lands of the Little Missouri,
North Dakota, a deposit of Ignite is be-
ing slowly consumed. The Indians call
1t smoking EARTH and 1t is tradition
among the SIOUX lfidI lHC pdaCs Sh1A W
umn Of smoke which arises from 1t was
seen by their ancestors ages ago. There Is
no way of telling how the coal became
ienited. The combustion Is very slow
and the flame is not visible except at
night.
Near Montgomery. w. Va. mine of
camel coal has been burning with greater
or less activity since 1885, when 1t was
set on fire. whether by accident or de-
sign Will never be known. 1t Is related
that there had been trouble with the MIN
ers, who were discharged for some rea-
son and the following morning flames
were roaring through the entry and were
well under way. The ti1nbers and rails
have long since disappeared. The fire
has eaten it's way a mile and three-quar-
tiers through the vein of coal. and still
burns on.
There are two perpetually burning mines
at Pittsburg. one within the city limits,
the other in the borough of West Liberty.
and although many methods have been
tried, none has been effective enough to
extinguish the flames
Fires in mines are frequent: they are
often started by explosions, by the care
lessness of employees and other causes.
The thin layers of fine coal dust that &C
cumulate upon the timbers are very in
fiammable, and the high temperature that
usually prevails makes it all the more
dangerous. Accidents have frequently
happened but as rule it is possible to
extinguish the flames by flooding the fire
area with water or by choking them with
sand.