The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-10-10
THE COAL INDUSTRY IN VIRGINIA

man there is n most interesting and
I'M formative article on the coal indus
try of the Old Dominion, written by
Professor William III. Hunley. who has
! lately assumed the chair of political
science in the University of Virginia.
There are few Nirginians living
outside of the producing areas them
selves who realize how the output OF
coal in Virginia has steadily Increased
during the past decade from 2.39s.754
| tons In 1900 to 6,o0T,99T tons in 1910"
he says According to Professor John
3 Grasty, professor of geology in
the University of Virginia, the coal
output has been practically doubled
since 1900. lacking few thousand
I9l), as shown by the statistics of
the Virginia and Federal surveys,
there was an unusual lncrease--a great
deal larger than the usual annual in
crcment.
That is TO say, tho production In
1909 was i.I5.,2i7 short tons. surpass-
ing all previous records. This was
beaten in 1909 by the unprecedented
Increase of i.755,7S0 tons. almost ~ per
cent. The value Increased s1,626, 1870, or
Ss per cent, or from s4,aol.O56 to 49,
ST"fS6. Likewise says Professor
Hunley, there has been CORES
ponding increase in the value of the
coal lands, which have doubled, treblcd
and quadruplcd in the same period,
tho price per acre varying according
to proximity TO transportation and the
intrinsic worth based on number.
thickness and quality of the occurring
coal beds"
1t Is shown further by these statistics
that the Virginia miner is as efficient
as found anywhere" The per capita
production averaged S96 tons for the
year. while the output per man per
day was 3.72 tons. Both of these aver
ages are better than shown in the ma
jority of the coal producing States"
comments the author of the article.
| The majority of miners in Virginia
work ten hours the day. the range
being from nine to ten hours. with
the exception OF single mine where
the eight hour day prevails. The dis
tribution according TO the "hour-duy"
of the total number of miners en-
ploycd G,264l in 1910 was: $40 men
working ten hours the day; l.Oal work
ing nine hours the day, and the rest
working eight hours the day.
h.
very interestingly told by Professor
Hunlcy:
While it is gratifying to know that
the coal fields of Virginia are being
brought into fuller development each
year, and many instructive facts are
being assembled annually concerning
the occurrence of coal in the State by
the state Geological Survey. it is also
worth recalling the very interesting
fact that. though the old Dominion
now ranks thirteenth in the list of
producing states and Territories. there
was time when she stood at the
mead OF the list, for the first coal Ga
fact not generally known) obtained
in the United States was mined in Vir-
ginia in the so-callcd Richmond field,
a small area of Triassic age, or, in
other words, it's coal beds were formed
Of Southwestern Virginia This basin
is situated on the eastern margin of
the Piedmont plateau. thirteen miles
from Richmond on the James River
II lies in Goochland, Henrico, Powha-
tan and Chesterfield counties Coal
was first mined here in 1850 and by
ISL the production Il .ounted to "a 600
tons. and continued to increase until
1882. when it began to decline The
t,Nf.l it,atUY Il,
than 100000 tons, which continued for
number of years. Owing however
to the competition of the New River
ana Pocahontas Goals. operations were
suspended in the Midlothian or Rich
mond basin during the later part OF
the nineteenth and the first few years
OF the present century. But within recent
years the rehabilitation of the mining
industry of the district was under
taken by the Old Dominion DEVELOPMENT
| Company, with the result that mines
which had been idle for years were
aga" put in condition for consid-
cradle tonnage"
While many will be interested in.
learning of the revival OF coal mining
in the Richmond basin, it should be
remembered on the other hand that the
chief coal output Of the State comes
from the Southwest In fact, It is
due to the Southwest Virginia coal
fields that Virginia is entitled to rank
among the principal coal producing
States" points out Professor Hunley.
The producing counties in that section
are Wise, Tazewell, Pulaski. Lee, Mont
gomery and Russell, with Wise head
ing the list, Within few years Pro-
fcssor .unley predicts that the two
counties of Buchanan and Dickenson,
which are rich In the occurrence of
coal, will likewise add their tonnage
and greatly increase the total yearly
output Their development has been
restrained only because of insufficient