The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
Maryland Coal and Coke Co. Has 1412 Acres in Walker
 and Cullman Counties
"SIPSEY" TO BE NAME
 OF COMPANY'S CITY
H. T. DeBardeleben Is President and Milton H. Fies Vice President. The Frisco to Build Six
 Miles of Road
By CLYDE ". ENNIS


 ments in an undeveloped coal field in
 Walker and Cu1lman. counties, which will
 ultimately involve over s2,G0,ooo, was
 made yesterday when incorporation pa
 pers were filed by the Maryland Coal and
 Coke company. The formation of the company has been a task of many
 months. involving infinite labor and has
 been participated in by a number of lead
 ing men here and the Frisco lines man. l agement.
 Henry T DeBardeleben is president and treasurer of the new company. Milton
 H. Fies is vice president and secretary. The incorporators are: l. N. Hanson, | brother of the late Maj. J. F. Hanson, president of the Central of Georgia;
 Moxie Fies, w C. Hamilton. Milton H.
 Fies, Henry T. DeBardeleben and Eugene l Fies. The capital of the company IS
 s6oo,oo0, fully paid ia. The company pro- poses to develop 1412 acres of land Tn Walker and cullman counties. The land
 as it now stands is in the same crude
 state as hundreds of years ago. Not one
 step of development has been taken. Entirely New Camps |
 of this company means considerable for
 this district It emphasizes the oft re-
 peated statement that Birmingham Is yet
 in it's industrial infancy. The place will
 be called Sipsey, provided the federal government has no objection to that l name. It adjoins the holdings of the
 Empire Coal company, of which Frank Nelson, Jr., is president The Sipsey creek flows through the land Mulberry fork of the Warrior river separates the holdings of one company from those of the other.
 In order to reach the holdings of the
 Maryland Coal company, it is announced
 with the approval of the Frisco line man agement, that six miles of standard
 guage railroad will be constructed into the new field, costing approximately s165, l 0O0 The railroad will cut off from the Frisco main line one mile south of Elm pire and will be bridged across the Null ! berry fork of the Warrior. The railroad will be built at the expense of the Fris- co lines with the Maryland Coal com l pany participating. The construction will be under the direction of c. E.
 Jonah. chief engineer of the Frisco lines, ,and William Matthews, locating engineer
 for the Frisco lines.
 Work to Begin August l
 The announcement was made yesterday that the company would begin work on 1 the six mile extension August 1. No time
 will be lost in getting the operations in shape. It is planned by the management to have an output of 1000 tons or 1500 tons q, The new company will mine drift work
 only it is announced, and there will be perhaps 15 or 20 drift openings. The coal is of the Black Creek seam, being mined
 now in some places and is considered of the best commercial grade.
 President DeBardeeben of the Mary
 land Coal company pointed out yester-
 day that the coal contained only 2 per
 cent ash and then again showed up 15,500 British thermal units, which stands for high grade coal among technical men, In fact MT. DeBardeeben said there
 was no better coal to be found in this
 district than the coal which it is pro- posed to get out of the openings to be
 made by the new company.
 He said that the shipments will be en- tirely free from slate, in every respect clean, commercial. and carrying the high est heat units of any coal here. The coal will be hand picked to free 1t from
 every vestige of slate, while the small
 coal will be thoroughly washed by a mod ern upto date washer, which will be a part of the equipment.
 The work of opening the mines and the actual operations will be in charge of Milton H. Fies, whose work at Mulga and Short Creek has earned him an
 unusually high place among local de- velopers. He will even superintend the construction work of the company to the
 most minute detail. Henry DeBardeleben will have charge of the executive depart ment and will look after the sales of
 the company at least temporarily. Plant Will Be Fireproof The entire plant will be fireproof, so far as practical The construction will be of steel. The plant will be electrically operated. The most modern contrivances
 will be provided for efficient operation.
 The haulage system will be up to date, while the interior work of the miners will be in strict conformity with all local laws and some additional strict rules of the management under the two young
 men who are recognized for their Ieffi- ciency in coal mine operations. Henry DeBardeeben, whose name alone carries weight and confidence in the in- dustrial world, has been working con tinually on this company for six months. He practically abandoned his work with the Alabama Fuel. which was founded by his father, the late Col Henry Fair child DeBardeleben, and which the two sons, Henry and Charles, have operated since his death.
 DeBardeleben's Statement MT. DeBardeleben in giving out the news of the formation of the company to the press yesterday said:
 ''The formation of the Maryland Coal company has been arranged by Mir. Han son, Eugene Fies, MT Hamilton, MT.
 Moxie Fies and MT. Milton Fies. We
 propose to begin the development of that field at once, the initial work being the construction of six miles of railroad to the mine city, which will be called Sipsey The railroad line will be man. aged by the Frisco lines and will strike the companys main tracks one mile south of Empire. ..The most careful consideration, of course, will be given to the work, but unusual scrutiny will be given the mine city. which we propose to create at sipsey We will build 200 houses there for the employees. We will have resi- dences for the officers of the company On the ground. The very first considela- ton Of the company will be to create the best living conditions for the large force ,if.t- n