USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume V > Part 13
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This alliance of coal and carrier corporations is all part of a system of public service which the Federal investigating body, the United States Coal Commission, in 1923, admitted to be superior to carlier methods of operating the vital anthracite industry. Quoting from the general report of the commis- sion, "the question squarely before the public is, which better serves it in certainty of supply and in quality and price of product, the large or the small anthracite companies?" Answering this question, the report, a few para- graphs further on reads: " . the commission is convinced that the public would benefit by increased production by the larger and lower cost com- panies" "and thereby gain some measure of protection against the demands of unscrupulous dealers. If there be a monopoly in effect it is not in the sense of pooling cost and profit among the 'railroad' companies, but in the sense that practically uniform prices have been charged by the 'railroad' group." "Real benefits have flowed to the public from strongly financed com- panies" is another quotation from the same report, this the opinion, remem- ber, of an independent body of investigators appointed by the Federal Gov- ernment to find out what was wrong with the anthracite coal industry at a time when consumers were crying out for protection against extortionate coal prices and at least one New England State Government was considering ways of banning anthracite coal altogether. The complete divorcing of mining and carrier corporations would probably do nobody any good; yet the average man of small means seems instinctively to welcome a chance to sprag the wheel of "big business" by legislation, based on a warped understanding of common right and no consideration at all of common weal.
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad is one of the pioneer coal owning roads that have their origin in the anthracite region. Coal and iron brought the Scrantons to the fair city that perpetuates their name. He and his associates began railway building eastward. In 1856 they reached Delaware Water Gap and there united with the Warren Railroad, the latter connecting with the Central Railroad of New Jersey, at Junction, and so fur- nishing Scranton and the northern anthracite field with an iron way to the seaboard at New York. The Lehigh Valley Railroad also connected with the Central Railroad, and both users of the latter were subsequently driven to
78
find other ways to New York. One company, the D., L. & W. R. R., con- nected with the Morris and Essex road, which was continued to Easton, cross- ing it at Washington, New Jersey; the other, the Lehigh Valley Railroad, built a line from Phillipsburg to Elizabeth, almost paralleling the Central road. To regain its share of coal traffic the Central Railroad of New Jersey was now forced to ally itself with the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Com- pany, and also with the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, so that it might use the line of the latter-the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad-to complete the connection. So the rivalry went on, coal companies and railroad corporations working hand in hand to out-manoeuvre another such combina- tion. In one notable instance, a railroad company tried to "squeeze out" some of the big coal operators. And the latter, in self defense, were compelled to build a "belt line" of their own, so as to connect their mines with other rail- roads. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were lost before the competing railroads eventually realized that there was room for them all in the anthracite field-not only room, but ample room-big profits and fat dividends for con- tented stockholders. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad is one of the wealthiest, if not the richest, railroad corporation of the East. It comes legitimately into the coal industry, with charter rights "to mine, trans- port and sell coal." It acquired immense coal holdings in the Lackawanna and Wyoming valleys, one group of mines being in the Scranton vicinity and another important group being between Pittston and Plymouth. In addition, it acquired an immense field in the Nanticoke district. A branch of the D., L. & W. R. R. system runs from Scranton, along the Susquehanna River, to Bloomsburg and Northumberland, there connecting with the Pennsylvania Railroad system. Along this route much coal passes from D., L. & W. mines. In 1909, the Delaware, Lackawanna and West Coal Company was organized, "to ship and market all the coal mined" by the railroad company. Its stock was taken by stockholders of the railroad company. The affiliation continued until September, 1921, when "the Glen Alden Coal Company succeeded the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company as the producer of the coal, but continues to sell its output through the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad." The D., L. & W. Coal Company's stock of $6,500,000 was made possible of purchase by the stockholders of the railroad, by a stock divi- dend of $13,000,000 made by the railroad company at that time. The Glen Alden Coal Company took over the coal property of the railroad company at a nominal price-original value, and has continued to be a "close" corporation- to all intents, the coal producing department of the railroad company. Lat- terly, it has been the coal sales department also.
A somewhat similar process has been followed by the Lehigh Valley Rail- road Company, one of the pioneer coal roads. Its ostensible divorcing of min- ing and carrying interests, however, occurred along before the D., L. & W. R. R. Co. acted. Since 1881, the Lehigh Valley Coal Company has been the coal producing branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and in 1912 the Lehigh Valley Coal Sales Company took over the sales branch of the coal interests of the Lehigh Valley Railroad group (including Coxe Bros., Inc.). Everything was "cut and dried." The Coal Sales Company issued stock to the amount of $6,060,800, but gave the Lehigh Valley Railroad stockholders the privilege of purchasing the whole of it. To make this possible, the railroad company simultaneously, or soon thereafter, declared a stock dividend of $6,060,800. The Lehigh Valley Coal Company operates mines in all the anthracite coal- fields. In addition to this output, the railroad company carries all the coal mined on those of its coal lands that it has permitted tenants to operate. The Lehigh Valley main road runs through the anthracite field from Mauch Chunk to Pittston, "but the Lehigh and Schuylkill districts, as far as Mount Carmel, are a perfect net work of branch roads, known as the Coal Branches." The
79
Coxe interests, which are now in the Lehigh Valley Railroad group, were the pioneers of the Delaware, Susquehanna and Schuylkill Railroad, and its opera- tions-carrying and mining-centered in Drifton. The Coxe company led the "independent" coal operators in their fight against control by the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and eventually brought the carriers to terms that were fair.
The Central Railroad of New Jersey mined coal in the anthracite fields under the name of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, operating collieries in the Wyoming coalfield, and also in the Lehigh region, near Auden- ried. A branch of the road entered the Panther Creek Basin, to take the out- put of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. In addition the Central Railroad of New Jersey acquired immense holdings of undeveloped coal land between Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke. From Wilkes-Barre to within four miles of Scranton, the Central Railroad of New Jersey passed over the Dela- ware and Hudson tracks, before entering its own system, and connecting with the New York, Ontario and Western at Scranton. A few years ago, a new chapter in the history of the Central Railroad of New Jersey was begun, the United States Supreme Court issuing a decree separating it from the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. The latter has since been operating under changed status.
The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, "the most extensive owner of lands and the heaviest miner of coal of all the operators." has also been separated from mining, a decree of the Supreme Court compelling them to dispose of their coal holdings to the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. Their operations came into the Middle coalfield, but were mainly in the Schuylkill region.
The Erie Railroad Company has extensive coal holdings in the Lacka- wanna Valley, also at Moosic, Avoca and Pittston. Its coal passed over the Delaware and Hudson road to Carbondale, or over the Erie and Wyoming Valley Railroad, which superseded the old Pennsylvania gravity road from Pittston to Hawley. The Pennsylvania Coal Company and the Hillside Coal and Iron Company are the producing companies of the Erie Railroad Company. The New York, Susquehanna and Western road was absorbed by the Erie; so also was the Erie & Wyoming Valley road.
The New York, Ontario and Western Railroad Company, through its coal companies, the Scranton Coal Company and the New York and Scranton Coal Company, operated mainly north of Scranton. It acquired most valuable coal holdings about twenty-five years ago. Its railway connected with the Cen- tral Railroad of New Jersey at Scranton.
The Susquehanna Collieries Company is usually grouped with the "inde- pendent" producers though, in antecedents at least, it was distinctly a "rail- road company." The Susquehanna Collieries Company succeeded to the coal interests of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Of the "independent" producers, the Susquehanna Company is the largest, its mines being at Glen Lyon and near Nanticoke. The other large "independents" include the Hazle Brook Coal Company, which was organized in 1921, consolidating the Girardville Mining Co., Maryd Coal Co., Midvalley Coal Co., the Raven Run Coal Co., the Upper Lehigh Coal Co., and the Hazle Brook Coal Co. The Markle interests have been prominent among the "independent" group of the Lehigh coalfield since the middle decades of last century. The Jeddo-Highland Coal Co., the Pardee interests, the Kingston Coal Co., the Lytle Coal Co., the Buck Run Coal Co., the Darkwater Coal Co., the Repplier Coal Co., the Temple Coal Co., the Wilkes-Barre Colliery Co., and the Alden Coal Co. are also among the larger producers of the so-called "independent" group. In efficiency and steadiness. the operations and sales systems correspond generally with those of the "railroad group." The mischief, in past years, of high prices has been gener- ally attributed to the small producers who have little to sell and have not
80
hesitated to so arrange their deliveries as to take full advantage of temporary shortage of supply.
It is not possible to give detailed statistics of mining for the year 1926; in fact, the publication of mining reports by the State seems to be much over due. It was not until May 29, 1925, that the Secretary of Mines submitted to Governor Gifford Pinchot the reports of the Department of Mines for the years ending December 31, 1921 and 1922. For the purpose of this record, the statistics for the year 1921 will serve quite as well as those for the year 1926; indeed, those for the year 1921 will serve better for that was a normal year, whereas 1926 was a strike year. So, also, was 1922. In the latter year the output of anthracite coal was only 53,910,201 net tons, whereas in 1921, 90,358,- 642 net tons were mined. The figures for the year 1921, therefore, will give a truer indication of the modern development of the anthracite mining industry.
The Luzerne County mining districts are the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th, also about one-third of the 7th and about one-half of the 16th districts. From Luzerne County mining districts, in 1921, 31,648,629 tons of coal were shipped to market, 3,633,71I tons were consumed at the collieries, and 1,400,862 tons were sold locally. The total production was 36,683,202 tons, or 40.60 per cent. of the total quantity of anthracite coal produced. The average number of days worked was two hundred and seventy. Further details are :
SEVENTH DISTRICT, 1921.
Operators and Collieries.
Railroad to Mine
Total Production Net Tons
Number of Employees
Glen Alden Coal Co .:
Hallstead Colliery
D. L. & W
203,350
354
Hillside Coal & Iron Co .:
Consolidated Colliery
Erie
125,097
266
Pennsylvania Coal Co .:
Central Colliery
Erie
263,380
670
Suffolk Coal Co .:
D. & D.
125,462
450
Grand Total. Luzerne County's Part of the Seventh District ....
717,289
1,740
EIGHTH DISTRICT, 1921.
Operators and Collieries.
Railroad to Mine
Total Production Net Tons
Number of Employees 1,580
Hillside Coal & Iron Co .:
Butler Colliery
Erie
677,685
Hudson Coal Co .:
Laflin Colliery
D. & H
315,436
538
Pennsylvania Coal Co .:
No. 9 Colliery
Erie
676,274
1,650
Ewen Colliery
Erie
637,862
1,697
No. 6 Colliery
Erie
450,266
1,398
No. 14 Colliery
Erie
757,220
1,959
Barnum Colliery
Erie
143,53I
403
Quinn Coal Co .:
Pickaway Colliery
L. V.
8,188
87
Grand Total. Eighth District.
3,666,462
9,312
Avoca Colliery
SI
NINTH DISTRICT, 1921.
Operators and Collieries.
Railroad to Mine
Total Production Net Tons
Number of Employees
Lehigh Valley Coal Co .:
Stevens Colliery
L. V. ( Idle)
Exeter Colliery
L. V.
437,50I
720
Westmoreland Colliery
L. V.
206,789
345
Maithy Colliery
1. V.
332,309
581
Broadwell ( Lackawanna )
45,255
79
Heidelberg Colliery
J D. & H. and
201,584
388
Seneca Colliery
IL. V.
254,221
582
William A. (Lackawanna )
148.673
322
Temple Coal Co .:
Forty Fort Colliery
L. V.
270,838
505
Harry E. Colliery.
D. L. & W. ; L. V ...
222,485
468
Kingston Coal Co .:
Penna. : D. & H .; C. R.
336,499
819
Kingston Washery
[ R. of N. J ..
1,789
. .
Mount Lookout Coal Co .:
Mt. Lookout Colliery.
D. L. & W .; L. V.
164,130
433
Harris-Denly Coal Co .: Kintz Colliery
D. L. & W .: L. V.
29,291
81
Healey Coal Co .: Troy
L. V.
21,34
49
John Ames Coal Co .:
Phoenix Washery
L. V.
7.425
44
John Fib Coal Co .:
L. V.
3,127
30
Grand Total. Ninth District
2,683,320
5,448
TENTH DISTRICT, 1921.
Operators and Collieries.
Railroad to Mine
Total Production Net Tons
Number of Employees
Central Coal Co .:
Wyoming Colliery
D. & H
68,159
158
John Conlon :
Conlon Colliery
D. & H.
59,992
130
East Boston Coal Co .:
East Boston Colliery
Penna. ; D. & H.
154,532
416
Glen Alden Coal Co .: Pettebone Colliery
D. L. & W.
679,866
946
Haddock Mining Co .: Black Diamond
L. V. : D. L. & W
160,914
373
Healey Coal Co .:
Miners Mills Colliery
L. V.
27,338
99
Hudson Coal Co .:
Pine Ridge Colliery
D. & H.
1 980,192
1,184
Delaware Colliery
D. & H.
5
Pine Ridge Washery
D. & H
45,806
653
Lehigh Valley Coal Co .:
L. V.
471,496
740
Raub Coal Co .:
Louise Colliery
L. V.
65,886
266
Traders Coal Co .: Ridgewood Colliery
C. R. R. of N. J .; Erie. . .
56,849
386
Il'ilkes-Barre Colliery Co .:
D. L. & W .; D. & H.
170,449
375
Grand Total. Tenth District.
3,242,035
6,233
Madeira Colliery
I. V.
300,556
507
Henry Colliery ... Mineral Spring Colliery
D. L. & W. ; L. V
Wyoming Washery
[D. L. & W .; L. V .;
Kingston No. 4.
W .- B .- 6
82
ELEVENTH DISTRICT, 1921.
Operators and Collieries.
Railroad to Mine
Total Production Net Tons 94,633
Number of Employees 216
Hudson Coal Co .:
Baltimore No. 5
D. & H.
962,725
1,826
Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co .:
Hollenback No. 2.
C. R. R. of N. J.
326,92I
583
South Wilkes-Barre No. 5.
C. R. R. of N. J
479,528
978
Stanton No. 7. .
C. R. R. of N. J
811,870
1,482
Empire Washery
C. R. R. of N. J
47,651
45
Lehigh Valley Coal Co .:
Dorrance Colliery
L. V.
569,508
857
Prospect Colliery
L. V.
362,28I
755
Red Ash Coal Co .:
C. R. R. of N. J
54,809
250
Grand Total. Eleventh District.
3,709,926
7,022
TWELFTH DISTRICT, 1921.
Operators and Collieries.
Railroad to Mine
Total Production Net Tons
Number of Employees
Glen Alden Coal Co .:
Woodward Colliery
D. L. & W.
1.229,706
1.767
Woodward Bank
D. L. & W.
37,213
34
Hudson Coal Co .:
Loree No. 6 Colliery
D. & H.
1,590,20I
2,443
Loree Washery
D. & H.
Inter-City Fuel Co .: Plymouth Co. Washery
C. R. R. of N. J
8,052
44
Kingston Coal Co .:
[ D. L. & W .; L. V .; D. &
Kingston No. 2 Colliery
{ H .; Penna .; C. R. R. of | N. J. ..
382,935
885
Gaylord Colliery
2 Penna .; C. R. R. of N. J.
118,154
323
Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co .: Lance No. 1I Colliery .. Nottingham No. 15 Colliery
C. R. R. of N. J
480,692
912
Plymouth Red Ash Coal Co .:
Plymouth Red Ash Colliery.
D. L. & W
17,361
40
Grand Total. Twelfth District.
4,527,194
7,506
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT, 1921.
Operators and Collieries.
Railroad to Mine
Total Production Net Tons
Number of Employees
Glen Alden Coal Co .:
Loomis Colliery
D. L. & W
798,749
1,019
Truesdale Colliery
D. L. & W
1,533,152
2,122
Avondale Colliery
D. L. & W
242,668
488
Culm Bank to Avondale Breaker ..
D. L. & W
82,743
Geo. F. Lee Coal Co .:
Chauncey Colliery
D. L. & W
98,285
206
Lehigh Valley Coal Co .:
L. V.
415,566
634
Warrior Run Colliery
L. V.
95,234
155
Lchigh & W'ilkes-Barre Coal Co .:
Sugar Notch No. 9 Colliery.
C. R. R. of N. J
423,40I
852
Maxwell No. 20 Colliery.
C. R. R. of N. J.
583,961
1,079
Buttonwood No. 22 Colliery.
C. R. R. of N. J.
277,577
632
Pittston Coal Mining Co .: Hadleigh Colliery
C. R. R. of N. J
134,446
273
WN'est Nanticoke Coal Co .:
West Nanticoke Colliery
Penna.
32,721
171
Grand Total. Thirteenth District.
4.718,503
7.721
.
S D. L. & W .; D. & H .;
C. R. R. of N. J
629,407
1,058
Nanticoke Power Plant
D. L. & W
Red Ash No. 3.
Hillman Coal Co .: Hillman Colliery
L. V.
Franklin Colliery
83
FOURTEENTH DISTRICT, 1921.
Operators and Collieries.
Railroad to Mine
Total Production Net Tons 337,485
Number of Employees 790
Alden Coal Co .: Alden Colliery
C. R. R. of N. J
East Alden Mining Co .:
East Alden Colliery
L. V.
37,438
58
Glen Alden Coal Co .:
D. L. & W.
331,470
50I
Bliss Colliery
D. L. & W
646,30I
902
Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co .:
Wanamie No. 18 Colliery.
C. R. R. of N. J
653.117
1,164
Wanamie Washery
C. R. R. of N. J
152,318
68
Stackhouse Coal Co. E. S .:
Salem Colliery
D. L. & W
39,846
189
Susquehanna Collicries Co .:
No. 5 Colliery
Penna. R. R.
449,860
1,279
No. 6 Colliery.
Penna. R. R.
500,869
1,013
No. 7 Colliery
Penna. R. R.
434,940
1,064
Nanticoke Washery
Penna. R. R.
212,112
57
West End Coal Co .:
West End Colliery.
Penna. R. R. ; C. R. R. of N. J.
520,31I
996
Grand Total. Fourteenth District
4,306,067
8,081
FIFTEENTH DISTRICT, 1921.
Operators and Collieries.
Railroad to Mine
Total Production Net Tons
Number of Employees
Core Bros. & Co., Inc .:
Drifton Colliery
L. V.
414,30I
664
Eckley Colliery
L. V.
328,407
327
Deringer Colliery
L. V.
364,107
699
East Point Coal Co .:
Pond Creek Colliery.
C. R. R. of N. J
14,453
135
Jeddo-Highland Coal Co .:
Highland No. 2 Colliery
L. V.
242,512
590
Highland No. 5 Colliery.
L. V.
282,757
501
Jeddo No.
L. V.
404,913
1,065
Jeddo No. 7.
197,832
35I
Kemmerer & Co. M. S .: Sandy Run
C. R. R. of N. J
70,070
152
Lehigh Valley Coal Co .:
L. V.
277,467
458
Hazleton Shaft
L. V.
323,90I
762
Pardee Bros. & Co., Inc .:
L. V.
574,804
1,077
Upper Lehigh Coal Co .:
C. R. R. of N. J
145,122
29.4
J. S. W'ents Co .:
Hazle Brook Colliery.
L. V.
118,762
185
Wolf Collieries Co., Inc .:
L. V.
43,670
88
Grand Total. Fifteenth District.
3,803,078
7,348
SIXTEENTH DISTRICT, 1921.
Operators and Collieries.
Railroad to Mine
Total Production Net Tons
Number of Employees
Cranberry Creek Coal Co .:
Cranberry Colliery
L. V. ...
903,337
1,343
Charles M. Dodson & Co .:
Beaver Brook Colliery
L. V. ; C. R. R. of N. J.
. ..
271,598
504
Harwood Coal Co .:
L. V.
97,599
386
Lehigh L'alley Coal Co .:
Spring Mountain Colliery L. V.
301,172
485
Spring Brook Colliery
L. V.
1
10,206
153
Spring Brook Washery
L. V.
5
Thomas R. Rees & Son:
Dusky Diamond Colliery
C. R. R. of N. J
207
Grand Total. Luzerne County's Part of Sixteenth District
1,584,119
2,890
Hazleton No. I Colliery
Lattimer Colliery
Upper Lehigh Colliery
Wolf Colliery
Harwood Colliery
Auchincloss Colliery
84
In the three-quarters of a century of shaft mining in the anthracite region, there have been surprisingly few serious general mining disasters. On Sep- tember 6, 1869, the fire at Avondale Colliery, Plymouth, took the lives of one hundred and seventy-nine miners. The next serious accident was on December 18, 1885, at Nanticoke No. I. Colliery. Twenty-six men were killed by an inrush of quicksand. An explosion of gas in Jersey No. 8 Mine, at Ashley, on May 15, 1890, killed twenty-six men. A fall of roof imprisoned the workers in the Twin Mine at Pittston, on June 28, 1896, and then fifty- eight lost their lives. Fire in the Pancoast Mine, at Throop, on April 7, 1911, took toll to the extent of seventy-two lives; and ninety-two were killed in Baltimore No. 5 (Baltimore Tunnel), at Wilkes-Barre, on June 5, 1919, in an explosion of powder and dynamite. With these exceptions, no single mining disaster in the anthracite coalfields has taken the lives of more than twenty men. Fatal accidents are constantly occurring in mining, of course, but the mine disasters have been few. Five hundred and forty-six mine workers lost their lives in 1921, while at their work in the anthracite region, and of this number one hundred and ninety-eight were of Luzerne County. This was the casualty total of the operation of a dangerous occupation for one year by 161,926 men. Over the period 1870-1922, the fatalities per 1,000,000 tons of anthracite coal mined averaged 7.60.
The mines attract workers of almost all the nationalities that make up the American population, but the larger national groups among the 161,926 anthracite miners in 1921 were as follows: American, 70,625; Polish, 24,926; Italian, 12,063; Lithuanian, 12,099; Slavonian, 9,276; Austrian, 9,222; Rus- sian, 8,265; Irish, 3,098; Welsh, 2,854; English, 2,752; Hungarian, 1,954; German, 1,357; Greek, 793; Tyrolean, 565; Swedish, 472; Scotch, 426; Span- ish. 267.
CHAPTER LIII. THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.
Anthracite coal has come so dominantly into the industrial history of Luzerne County that a stranger is apt to think the other industries are of little importance. It requires little research, however, to discover that the Wyoming Valley is not only a mining region. Anthracite coal mining is, it is true, the leading industry, but the textile industry has been looming large in Luzerne during recent years. The textile mills of the Wilkes-Barre district employ about 9,000 operatives ; and, by the way, Wilkes-Barre is not the only textile center of Luzerne County. At Hazleton there are five silk mills and seven knitting mills. For a generation or more, one of these Hazleton mills has found steady employment for more than a thousand workers. It is said that Luzerne County, in 1925, took the place of Paterson, New Jersey. as the dominant silk center of America. Wilkes-Barre has a lace mill which employs about a thousand operatives. It is in the class of the largest American lace manufacturing plants, and in one respect is unique, in that the Wilkes-Barre mill is "the only one of its kind in the world that spins yarn from raw cotton to weave into curtains." The metal manufacturing plants of the Wyoming Valley are by no means insignificant. They employ more than 4.000 workers. Several internationally-known makes of automobiles, trucks, and busses use Sheldon bumpers. Wilkes-Barre axles and springs go under many cars. Wyoming shovels are known from coast to coast. The Vulcan Iron Works, at their several plants, find employment for more than a thousand skilled workers. Vulcan locomotives are known in most of the leading countries of both hemispheres. Kingston manufactures adding machines that find many foreign markets. For seventy-five years Pittston stoves and ranges have been leaders. For a century Hazard wire rope has been used-the first ever used in America for suspension bridge purposes, it is said. And, during recent years, the Hazard insulated wire specialties, particularly the Hazard parkway underground cable, have been the operating connection of many of the fire alarm and traffic regulation systems of leading American cities. Wilkes- Barre has three large tobacco manufacturing establishments that hold their own against the great tobacco trusts ; and, quite recently a cigar manufactur- ing plant at Forty Fort assumed such large proportions as to give credence to the assertion that it is the largest in the world; certainly, it is the largest of the fifty plants of the General Cigar Company, a National corporation, whose factories are to be found in many states. The Forty Fort cigar factory employs about 1.500 operatives. "Planter" peanuts are in demand all over the United States, but not many persons know that they represent a Wilkes-Barre business which has an annual turnover of $8,000,000. The flouring mills of the Wyoming Valley are not only historic ; they are establishments that keep abreast of modern milling improvements and successfully compete with the more extensively advertised flours.
The manufactured products of the Wilkes-Barre district include art glass, automobile commercial bodies, automobile parts, car wheels and axles ; chemi- cals, cigars, clay products ; coal breaker machinery ; copper wire; curtains. electric hoists, electric machines ; engines, steam, electric and gasoline ; iron and wire fencing; fire escapes ; farm implements ; hosiery, some Nationally known; insulated wire, iron and steel ropes; knitted products; laces ; loco- motives ; metallic steam packing : mine drills, motor generators, paints and oils ; paper products, including waterproof paper tubes ; peanut butter ; pow-
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