USA > Pennsylvania > Northumberland County > History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania > Part 38
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His attention will be first called to notice the many breakers that can be seen from this point, made prominent in the distance by the ascending columns of steam from their works. Here at the base of the bank is the Cameron, one of the finest breakers in the region. Looking southward and
352
HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
westward, the Neilson, Bear Valley, Burnside, and others are to be seen. Turning more to the east, the Henry Clay and Buck Ridge are to be seen in the distance, and still further eastward, the Luke Fidler, Enterprise, and other collieries may be partly discerned.
The story of the coal formation of this region will then be told, illus- trated by objects that meet the vision on every side. Looking to the south, the entire basin will be seen spread out as a panorama, and turning east and west a large portion of the great coal trough can be examined by the eye. Shamokin as a town, with its fine churches and school houses, will be lost sight of, and only referred to occasionally as a reference of location, while the great work of Nature in her wonderful storage of fuel, will be talked about. Again he will be reminded that he is in a great trough or basin in which are stored away some sixteen layers of coal, of various thickness, at different depths, with the lowest seam far down in the solid rock at least two thousand five hundred feet from the present point.
He will be told that this storage of fuel is protected on its sides and bottom by a massive rim of conglomerate of some six hundred feet in thick- ness, and extending down in the earth about seven hundred feet below the sea level. His attention will then be called to a hill south of the Shamokin cemetery, on the Bellas tract, now occupied by the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. 'His companion will state that this hill is one of the highest points in the State, though not more than one thousand two hun- dred feet above tide. He will wonder at this, as the elevation is not greater than at the point he stands on, and considerably lower than some of the mountains around him, and he will question the correctness of the state- ment. He will be answered that the height is meant in a geological sense and not a physical one. The mountains at Hazelton have a much greater elevation above the level of the ocean, but in the coal formation are much lower than this hill and do not possess the upper coal measures. Here on this hill all the coal seams from No. 17 down to No. 1 of the Lykens Valley are found, which is possibly one of the few spots in the Middle coal field of which this can be said. At this stage in the lesson course the reader asks how can the veins be distinguished from each other? They are all coal, and all anthracite has a common appearance no matter from what seam it is taken. Every chunk of coal from any of the breakers possesses the same com- mon properties, black in color, metallic luster, vitreous fracture, and con- choidal shape. Their chemical properties are practically alike-the same percentage of carbon and volatile matter. How then do you know how or when to call a vein Skidmore at the Cameron, and another at the Henry Clay the Mammoth ?
Upon a few moments of reflection the experienced inside foreman answered that this was sometimes a very difficult matter, and had been the occasion of many disputes. Operators have been known to misname an infe-
353
THE SHAMOKIN COAL FIELD.
rior coal for some popular one that is asked for in the market. But in our region the locations of the veins are pretty well established. In the first place, the qualities and position of the Mammoth, the Buck Mountain, and Lykens Valley are so prominent and well known that they serve as guides in placing the others. Suppose a vein is found between the Mammoth and the Lykens Valley. If the conglomerate on which it rests is composed of small pebbles we know it is the Buck Mountain. If immediately below the Mammoth it is the Skidmore, if below the Skidmore it is the Seven Feet. Above the Mammoth, which is the principal seam of all coal fields, a vein may be determined by its number from it-if the vein is the next above, it is the Holmes. Again, the vein may be determined by its size, ash, and the slates or coverings, principally the last.
Some years ago, Kimber Cleaver, the eminent engineer of our region, conceived the idea that the veins might be distinguished by the fossils on the slates covering such veins. There may be something in this but it would require some study to know how to utilize it. A few of the veins may be recognized by the iron ore seams that follow them.
As before stated, there are some seventeen coal veins found in the Sha- mokin coal field, besides several coal leaders, one or two of which are largely enough developed at places to be worked.
DESCRIPTION OF THE COAL VEINS.
The following is a brief description of each vein, commencing with the surface and descending regularly to the bottom measures :-
No. 17-Little Tracy .- A red ash vein, the uppermost one found in the Shamokin region. It is only found in a small basin on the Bellas tract, on a hill immediately south of the Shamokin cemetery. The vein is about five feet thick, but has not been worked anywhere in our region on account of insufficient top.
No. 16-Tracy .- A red ash vein, underlying the Little Tracy, about five feet in thickness. It is a fair coal and has been worked at the Royal Oak, Franklin Gowen, and Clinton collieries.
No. 15 -- Little Diamond .- A red ash vein, of small size and only worked in a few places where it reaches the thickness of five feet. It was worked at the Lambert, and at the Luke Fidler colliery by John Rosser in 1852.
No. 14 Diamond .- Another red ash vein, running from five to seven feet of coal in places. It was opened and worked at the Clinton, Alpha, Marshall, and Lambert collieries. A medium coal.
No. 13-Little Orchard .- A pink ash coal, worked at Peerless, Lambert, and Royal Oak collieries. Faulty in places. About six feet thick.
No. 12-Orchard .- A red ash coal of about six feet thickness. Worked at Peerless, Luke Fidler, Cameron, Garfield, and the old Lambert colliery.
No. 11-Primrose .- A celebrated red ash coal, highly valued in the
354
HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
markets. This was the first vein opened and worked in the Shamokin region, and was named the Boyd vein. It was first worked in the bed of the Shamokin creek between Spurzheim and Webster streets, where the coal was exposed by the action of the water. It was called John Boyd's stone coal quarry. For many years this coal was quarried out of the creek and bank by farmers of the vicinity. The vein opened at the old furnace by the Shamokin Coal and Iron Company in 1839 is said by some practical miners to be the famous Primrose, but others contend that this coal belongs to a higher numbered vein which was afterward worked out by the Tillets. It was used by the Shamokin furnace in 1841 in smelting iron, being the third or fourth anthracite furnace erected in this country. The vein was in 1853 reported to be sixty feet thick and was called the famous Boyd vein. This vein was worked by the Daniel Webster, Luke Fidler, and Cameron collieries, and was the main dependence of the George Fales, Lambert, and Peerless collieries. Average thickness, from six to eight feet.
No. 10-Holmes .- A reddish gray ash coal, of five feet in thickness. It is largely worked at the Cameron and Peerless collieries.
Nos. 9 and 8-Mammoth .- This is the principal coal seam of the anthra- cite coal regions and is of general distribution. In some places the seams are united in one vein as at Locust Gap, measuring as high as sixty feet in thick- ness. In our region the vein is divided in three splits, No. 9 being the upper split, No. 8 the lower split, and the middle split between them. No. 8 is the most reliable vein. Nos. 8 and 9 run about eight feet each and the middle split about two feet. A white ash coal of superior value.
No. 7-Skidmore .- A white ash coal, five feet thick-not reliable, princi- pally worked at the Cameron, where it is called the Tape vein. Produces a good coal at the Cameron, Alaska shaft, and Mt. Carmel collieries. It is well adapted for furnace use.
No. 6-Seven Feet .- A white ash coal of six feet, worked at the Cameron colliery.
No. 5-Buck Mountain .- A red ash coal, from five to ten feet in thick- ness. A good coal. Worked at the Cameron and Corbin collieries.
Lykens Valley Veins .- A red ash coal from six to nine feet in thickness, being the bottom veins of the coal measures. Worked at the Cameron, Enterprise, Ben Franklin, and Trevorton collieries. Not fully developed in our region. At Trevorton twelve feet thick and fully developed.
A SECTION OF THE MEASURES.
To illustrate this subject more fully and show the nature of the Shamokin coal basin, we give the following table, as taken from Reports of Second Geological Survey, showing the thickness of coal veins and intervening strata from vein No. 16 to No. 2 of Lykens Valley :-
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THE SHAMOKIN COAL FIELD.
No. 16 Vein
5 feet
Strata
21 feet
Strata
63 feet
Middle Split. 8 feet
15 Vein
5 feet
Strata. 13 feet
Strata
79 feet
No. 8 Lower Split 5 feet
14 Vein
8 feet
Strata. 59 feet
Strata
30 feet
Coal Leader.
1 foot
Strata. 34 feet
Strata.
55 feet
6 Vein
3 feet
13 Vein
6 feet
Strata.
70 feet
5 Vein. Strata.
3 feet
12 Vein
4 feet
Strata
226 feet
4 Vein
3 feet
11 Veir
7 feet
Strata.
342 feet
Strata
186 feet
= 10 Vein.
6 feet
Strata.
166 feet
Total
1557 feet
" 9 Upper Split 8 feet
Recapitulation: Coal
79 feet
Strata
1478 feet
Total
1557 feet
The veins differ in thickness at various collieries and the above will prob- ably give a fair average of thickness in our region.
The Mammoth generally occurs in two splits, but at Bear Valley, Enter- prise, and a few other places it appears in three splits. The average thick- ness of the Mammoth in this section is about nineteen feet of coal in our region, though it is reported in places farther east to have reached the enor- mous thickness of ninety feet.
The bottom of the Shamokin coal basin is said to be about one thousand feet below the level of the sea. Add to this the height of the Shamokin mountain, which is one thousand five hundred feet above tide, and we have a perpendicular depth of two thousand five hundred feet for the Lykens Valley veins.
The shaft at the Neilson colliery is down about one thousand two hundred twenty feet, reaching the Mammoth veins, or about five hundred feet below the sea level. By the above table they will yet probably descend five hundred eighty-five feet to reach the Lykens Valley veins, or about five hundred feet to reach the one thousand feet below the level of the ocean, the bottom of the basin. Standing at the corner of Shamokin and Sunbury streets at Rohr- heimer's clothing store, which is seven hundred fifty-seven feet above tide, and adding one thousand feet to it and we will have one thousand seven hun- dred fifty-seven feet to the bottom of the basin. Adding to this seven hun- dred forty-three feet, the elevation of Big mountain at this point, and we will have a grand total of two thousand five hundred feet.
The Shamokin coal field is a term used in this article to represent all the coal territory contained in Northumberland county, and for the sake of con-
# 7 Vein 4 feet
Strata. 53 feet
81 feet
66 2 Vein 3 feet
356
HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
venience rather than geological exactness, it is divided into three districts representing the townships in which they are chiefly located. They will be termed the Mt. Carmel, Shamokin, and Trevorton (Zerbe) districts.
The great trough of coal in this coal field is divided into several longi- tudinal divisions by a few prominent anticlinals forming the northern and southern boundaries of the local basins, while the rising and falling of the measures to and from the surface make their eastern and western limits. Notable among these anticlinals is that of the Locust mountain, which divides the Locust Gap and Mt. Carmel basins. Standing in the gap of this mountain, the Pottsville conglomerate can be plainly seen rising up through the coal measures and dividing the coal trough. Another very prominent anticlinal is that of Red ridge, north of the town of Mt. Carmel, which divides the Mt. Carmel and Black Diamond basins. To fully comprehend this subject, the reader should be on the ground and have these upheavals of the lower coal measures pointed out. The districts of Mt. Carmel and Shamokin are divided into a number of basins, increasing in depth until the town of Shamo- kin is reached, wben from that point westward they gradually come nearer the surface.
Another point to be noticed is the change in the character of the coal as we proceed westward. At Mt. Carmel, and more especially at Locust Gap, the coal may be classed as a grade between hard and freeburning white ash; coming westward towards Shamokin, the coal my be divided into two grades of freeburning and Shamokin white ash, the latter being a little softer but specially adapted for domestic uses. Passing farther westward we reach the Trevorton district, where we will find the coal very pure but so soft as to be termed semi-anthracite. This is called the North Franklin coal .-
The present production of the three districts will be given by dividing the total tonnage of 1889.
Tons.
Mt. Carmel district.
9 collieries,
1,090,791.
Shamokin district.
18 collieries,
1,541,354.
Trevorton district.
1 colliery, 62,406.
Total
28 collieries,
2,694,551.
The exhaustion of our coal supply has become a very important question and received much consideration of late years. With the present enormous output of over thirty-five million tons per year, the question naturally arises, how long can such shipments be kept up ? Eminent engineers and geologists who have given this subject their careful attention have presented estimates which vary from one hundred fifty to two hundred years. It is asserted by them, that by improved plans of mining and better methods of prepara- tion, the coal wastage may be greatly reduced and the time extended. Pro- fessor Sheafer, a most excellent authority, declares that only one third of the coal in the ground gets to market, the other two parts being lost in various
357
THE SHAMOKIN COAL FIELD.
ways. Superintendent Holden Chester and other experienced coal men of our region think that at least forty per cent. may be named as the output from the Shamokin coal field. Professor Sheafer further states that in the smaller veins of eight and ten feet, one half of the coal is mined, while in the very large seams not more than one quarter is taken out. The following is his estimate of the coal supply in the anthracite region :-
Tons.
Original amount of anthracite.
25,000,000,000.
Extracted up to 1883.
1,500,000,000.
Leaving untouched.
23,500,000,000.
Deduct two thirds for wastage. 15,500,000,000.
Leaving for future use.
8,000,000,000.
With annual shipments of forty million tons this supply will last two hundred years.
But the question that more immediately concerns the people of our lo- cality is, how long will our supply last? Is it likely to be exhausted in a few years? Our annual shipments now exceed two and one half million tons with a fair prospect that our maximum tonnage may reach four millions. The writer believes that an approximate answer may be given by basing estimates on results reported by Eckley B. Coxe, one of the largest and most intelligent coal operators in the State. He says that "upon excavation of a little less than two hundred acres, with the vein not over ten feet thick on the average, the shipments are over two million tons." At this operation he states that the vein is not all worked out, some breasts unfinished, and some parts unopened, and much coal to be robbed. Now there are about fifty square miles of coal lands in Northumberland county. Taking one half of this sum for fully productive territory and we will have sixteen thousand acres. Upon the basis of Mr. Coxe, that one acre with a vein of ten feet will yield ten thousand tons, sixteen thousand acres will furnish one hun- dred sixty million tons, and, with an average thickness of forty feet of coal, will produce four times that quantity or the enormous tonnage of six hun- dred forty million tons, the original amount stored away. Deducting from this forty-six and one half million tons, the amount that has been taken out, and there will remain for future use and shipment five hundred ninety-three million five hundred thousand tons. Shipping at the rate of four million tons a year we have a sufficient supply of coal to last us for one hundred forty-eight years.
Is there a more wealthy section in the United States than our anthracite coal fields ?
.
358
HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
CHAPTER XI.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHAMOKIN COAL FIELD.
DISCOVERY OF ANTHRACITE IN THIS REGION-FIRST APPLICATION TO GENERAL USES -- FIRST SHAMOKIN COAL TAKEN TO MARKET-OPENING OF THE FIRST MINES AT SHAMOKIN, COAL RUN, AND TREVORTON-FIRST COAL SHIPMENTS DOWN THE SUS- QUEHANNA-SPECULATION IN COAL LANDS-THE DANVILLE AND POTTSVILLE RAIL- ROAD-PIONEER COAL OPERATIONS-THE DISASTROUS YEAR OF 1842-REVIVAL OF 1850-JUDGE HELFENSTEIN'S DEVELOPMENTS-ORIGINAL COAL BREAKERS-MAR- SHALL'S LETTER-NEW COLLIERIES AND OUTLETS-COAL SHIPMENTS TO ELMIRA IN 1855-OTHER COLLIERIES STARTED AND BREAKERS ERECTED - TONNAGE OF THIS REGION FOR THE YEARS 1857 AND 1889-TOTAL PRODUCTION FOR THE PAST FIFTY-ONE YEARS.
..
BY DR. J. J. JOHN.
T' THE present article will be devoted to the rise and progress of the an- thracite coal trade in Northumberland county. It will begin with its humble origin, near a century ago, when stone coal was rejected as a worthless article and its use to the wants and necessities of life was laughed at, and follow its history down to the present time, when its great value is fully understood and the work of mining and shipping it has created two of the leading industries of the country.
Anthracite coal was known to exist in the Shamokin region at a very early date, but none of its uses were then known. Its first discovery was made at Wyoming in 1766, and fourteen years later, or 1780, anthracite coal was observed by Mr. Cherry, the first settler of these parts. He picked up some pieces from the Shamokin creek, his attention having been attracted by their shining black appearance. To him they were only objects of curiosity and were put aside to exhibit when parties should chance to call on him.
In 1790 Nicho Allen is said to have discovered coal near Pottsville and tested its burning qualities at the time he found it, and in 1791 Philip Gin- ter, the hunter, made his "famous find" at Mauch Chunk, the one hundredth anniversary of which is now proposed to be celebrated at Summit Hill in September, 1891, with a view of erecting a monument to his memory. At about the same time coal was discovered at Shamokin and applied to use. Isaac Tomlinson was the discoverer. He was a former resident of Maiden Creek, Berks county, and had but lately moved on his tract of land, lying between Shamokin and Mt. Carmel, and long afterwards known as the "half- way house." One day in 1790 as he was crossing over his farm his atten-
359
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHAMOKIN COAL FIELD.
tion was called to some black stones lying in the bed of Quaker run, a stream that ran through his place and was so called because he was a member of the Society of Friends. He picked up some of them, and, feeling confident that they were coal, he took them down to a blacksmith at his former home and had them tried in his fire. To his great delight he found that they made a splendid fire.
Thus we see that the three discoverers of anthracite coal in the Southern and Middle coal fields were Allen, Ginter, and Tomlinson, and, what is remarkable, all these discoveries were made about the same time. Little did these three men think then, just one hundred years ago, how valuable this stone coal would become at a later period. And what would Mr. Tomlinson have said, if he had been told on that occasion as he was carrying these black stones from Quaker run across his wild domain, that a century later this new farm of his would be held by a great corporation and valued more highly per acre, several times over, than the most fertile and best improved properties of Berks or Lancaster county ? He would, doubtless, have regarded the in- formant as insane.
The coal of the Shamokin region was more readily introduced to various uses than that of other regions. It was softer, more easily ignited, and more closely allied to the bituminous varieties, about which the people had some little knowledge.
The first practical use of Shamokin coal in our county was made in 1810 by the same Mr. Tomlinson, the discoverer. His farm was on the famous old Reading road, the highway between Reading and Sunbury. Mr. Tom- linson was a practical smith and could work in the shop as well as on the farm. For the accommodation of himself and his few neighbors he put up a shop on his farm. On one occasion this year, being out of the coal commonly used at that time, he resorted to his Quaker run mine again, obtained a small supply, tried it over again, and was so successful that there- after he continued its use.
About this period Jesse Fell, of Wilkesbarre, made the important discovery that stone coal could be used in houses as a fuel, by burning it in rudely constructed grates. These grates were improved from time to time, and soon afterward stoves were invented that would burn anthracite coal. These improvements greatly increased the demand for the new fuel.
During the war of 1812 iron manufacturers who had theretofore used soft coal from Virginia were unable to procure their supplies from this source, and were at a loss what to use as a substitute. After great persua- sion and repeated experiments, they found that the much abused anthracite would answer their purpose if properly treated. The common instruction to those who proposed to use it was, "put on the coal, shut the door, and let it alone." At this time the use of coal was fairly commenced in some parts of our county where it could be readily procured.
360
HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
In 1814 the first Shamokin coal was taken to market. Mr. John Thomp- son, during his later years an old and respected citizen of our town and now deceased, was the first coal operator. When a boy of fifteen years of age he lived on his father's place a few miles east of Shamokin. At that time he mined a two-horse load of coal from the bed of Quaker run, hauled it to Sunbury, and sold it to a shoemaker for five dollars.
About 1825 Shamokin coal seems to have come into some demand by the neighboring blacksmiths and farmers, and mines at Furnace run, Coal run, and Shamokin creek were opened from time to time for their accommodation. The first coal mined in the Shamokin region was from the bed of streams where the veins had been exposed by the action of the water. In Schuylkill county, where mining had commenced some years earlier, a very primitive method was adopted. A small shaft would be sunk on a crop of the vein, on or near the top of a hill, and by the means of a windlass and bucket the coal would be hoisted out. When the shaft would reach the depth of twenty-five or thirty feet it would be abandoned and a new one would be started. The coal thus mined would be sold on the bank at twenty-five cents per bushel. Coal mining was then a new thing and very simple in its operation. The miners were principally Scotch and Welsh. In the course of a few years horse-power was attached to the gin, which was then regarded as a wonder- ful improvement. But this method was far from satisfactory, as water would gather in the small shaft and drown the miners out. But the ingenuity of man finally overcame this drawback by a new device. A drift was driven on the vein at the bottom of the hill and the coal above was mined, and as it was loosened, it slid down into the wheelbarrow, which when full was wheeled out to the bank at the drift mouth. These drifts drained themselves. In the course of time some of these drifts were enlarged and more substantially constructed; they were then called gangways. The next improvement made about this time was the construction of railroads in gangways upon which were put small cars, holding about three bushels of coal, which were pushed out by hand. As these gangways were further enlarged the cars were built of greater dimensions, and finally mules were introduced to draw them in and out. At a later date slopes and shafts were sunk to reach the deeper veins, and powerful steam engines and pumps had to be provided to carry on these large mining operations. But the early methods of the Shamokin coal field differed somewhat from these. The first plan of mining was to take the coal out of the beds of the streams where it was exposed. When this supply was exhausted, the next move was to uncover the coal on the banks and hill- sides and quarry it the same as stone.
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