USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 11
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From some cause not fully explained the voyage was ended at New Brunswick, where the cargo was sold and discharged. It was the full determination of Colonel Crossland, however, to make another trial. Having been kindly provided with a cargo of coal by George H. Potts and a return freight of merchandise by Messrs. T. & I. Beatty, he again, about the middle of October, started off on his adventure. He encountered adverse winds, dense fogs and innumerable vexatious delays. With wonderful audacity he neither employed a steam- boat to tow the " Adventurer " or a pilot to direct her course, depending altogether upon his sail, his pluck and his star for the issue. After an al sence of thirty-eight days our voyager
re- turned to Pottsville. He had not been "round the world " but he saw something of it, and he delivered the first cargo of coal from the Schuylkill region to New York direct and without transhipment. In the year fol- lowing Colonel Crossland's experiment, Messrs. Stockton & Stevens had a fleet of boats built expressly for the direct trade to New York. ..
COAL TRADE IN 1837.
The short supply and high prices of coal in 1836 in- duced a strong effort to be made in Congress to remove the duty on foreign coal, under the pretext that a supply `of the domestic article could not be obtained. This cir- cumstance stimulated the coal operators to make ex- traordinary preparations throughout the winter of 1837 to meet an increased demand. Day and night they la- "bored with indefatigable industry and enterprise to in- crease the productive capacity of the mines, at the same 'aime stacking the banks on the surface with mounds of coal, in anticipation of a large consumption and to dem- | principle to conferring such grants, but they believed they
onstrate that a supply could be furnished without for- eign importations. Scarcely had the shipments attained their full volume, in the month of April, when there oc- curred a financial panic, which deranged all branches of business. Its immediate effect upon the coal trade was disastrous. Orders were countermanded to a degree that involved the necessity of suspending operations at a large number of the collieries. The operators at this juncture held a public meeting, and issued an address to their customers and the public, defining their position, their preparations made during the winter to supply the mar- ket, and the heavy amount of their expenditures, and ad- monishing the consumers of coal that the consequence of permitting time to elapse in inactivity would be a short supply in the market at the close of navigation. To avert this deplorable event, which always bears so hard upon the poorer classes, capitalists were invited to make investments in coal. Their appeal was met with derision by the representatives of the press in the large cities, and the operators were unjustly accused of practicing a ruse to keep up the price of coal by gulling the public into the belief that coal would be scarce unless something was done.
The violence of the monetary convulsion was soon ex- pended, and after languishing awhile the coal trade ral- lied, and the absolute necessity for a supply of coal-the market being bare-restored activity. After many vicis- situdes in the business during the year, and oscillations in prices of coal, of freight and of the wages of labor, the season of 1837 came to a close with an increase in the supply, compared with that of the preceding year, of 97,361 tons from the Schuylkill region.
On the first of April, 1838, the stock of anthracite coal in the market remaining over from the preceding year was estimated at 200,000 tons. A considerable depletion of the market was required before a demand for the new product could be expected. The shipments, conse- quently, were very light until about the first of June, and after that period the general and protracted depression in almost every branch of business, and especially the diminished consumption of coal by manufacturers, cast a cloud over the trade, and it dragged sluggishly along until the close of navigation. The supply of coal from the Schuylkill region was 94,332 tons less than in 1837.
FIRST MINING COMPANY INCORPORATED.
During the session of the Legislature of Pennsylvania in the winter of 1838 the coal operators, the miners and laborers at the mines, and the citizens generally of Schuylkill county were very much exercised upon the subject of incorporated coal companies. The occasion of this excitement was a bill introduced in the Senate by the Hon. Charles Frailey, the member from Schuylkill, for the incorporation, with the usual exclusive privileges, of a company entitled the " Offerman Mining and Rail- road Company," to be located in the Schuylkill coal re- gion. The indignation of the people was intensely wrought upon; not only because they were opposed in
SMELTING WITH ANTHRACITE-DISASTROUS FRESHETS.
were being betrayed by the party to the application and the senator who was its champion, who had on former occasions stood by them shoulder to shoulder in opposi- tion to similar measures. The covert, insidious and per- sistent manner in which this bill was pressed upon the Legislature provoked energetic opposition and implaca- ble hostility. First it was introduced-at a former ses- sion-as incorporating the "Cataract Company," and failed. It next appeared as establishing the "Buck Ridge Railroad and Mining Company," with a capital of $350,000 and a term of twenty years. It stood at the head of ten other-so called-monopolies, all incorpor- ated in the same bill. It was logrolled through both houses, and at length found its way to the governor, who put his veto upon the whole batch, including the famous " Buck Ridge." It was supposed this blow would destroy the monster forever. Not so, however. It was hydra- headed, and appeared again under the title of " Offer- man Mining Company." In opposition to this bill a memorial signed by two thousand persons was sent to the Legislature in charge of a committee. The voice of the coal region was heard in earnest remonstrance, but it was all of no avail. The bill passed both houses, was vetoed by the governor and passed over the veto.
The charter thus obtained never became operative under the title bestowed upon it; it was buried out of sight for a time, to be resurrected at some future day under another name.
ANTHRACITE FOR SMELTING IRON ORE.
The discovery of the process for sinelting iron ore with anthracite coal was an event of transcendent im- portance in the manufacture of iron in Pennsylvania, and, as a resulting consequence, in the production of an- thracite coal. The impulse it gave to the trade in both commodities diffused inestimable benefits upon com- merce, navigation, manufactures, and every industrial pursuit. The construction of furnaces along the main channels of navigation, especially in the valleys of the Schuylkill and the Lehigh rivers, had an almost magical effect upon the development of the natural resources of the country, enhancing its mineral and agricultural wealth, its internal trade, commerce, manufactures, and every description of business and industry; all of which was made manifest by the increase and spread of popu- lation, and the aggregation of towns, villages and cities. The consumption of anthracite coal affords a fair index of the consequential results of the manufacture of anthra- cite iron. For example, its consumption on the line of the Schuylkill above Philadelphia in the year 1839, at which time the first anthracite furnace in the United States-the Pioneer, at Pottsville-was put in blast, was 30,290 tons. Ten years afterward it had increased to 239,290 tons, in the year 1859 to 554,774 tons, and in 1873 to 1,787,205 tons. A large proportion of this rapid expansion of the coal trade on the line of the Schuylkill can be fairly attributed to the iron works, which so greatly stimulated every business enter- prise.
FLOODS.
The navigation of the Schuylkill canal, which had been impeded by the low stage of water in 1838, was seriously damaged by an ice freshet of extraordinary magnitude on the 26th and 27th of January, 1839. The ground being frozen hard and impervious to water, the streams were soon overflowing by the heavy rain, the ice broke up, and the torrent with the force of a deluge swept crashing and roaring through the valley of the Schuylkill with fearful impetuosity, carrying along with resistless force every obstacle or obstruction that it en- countered. The water rose in a few hours in many places twenty feet above its usual level, sweeping away bridges, landings, canal boats and dams, and doing great damage to the works of the canal in exposed situa- tions. In Philadelphia the freshet caused the greatest inundation ever known in the Schuylkill. The wharves were entirely submerged, and the entire eastern shore of the Schuylkill, extending from the Market street bridge over a mile toward the Naval Asylum, presented a scene of chaotic confusion, wreck and ruin. Not a single ves- sel of any kind was left afloat after the water had sub- sided. Barges, boats, sloops and schooners were lying ashore, and some of them had been lifted by the rising water over vast heaps of coal, and deposited in a situa- tion from which they could only be extricated with great difficulty. By extraordinary exertion the Schuylkill canal was repaired in time for the usual opening of navigation to the coal trade.
The coal business of 1839 was unsatisfactory and un- renumerative. Starting in the spring with 150,000 tons of coal in the market, the trade languished throughout the year. Many of the collieries were idle part of the time, although coal was offered at less than the cost of putting it into boats. Many miners for want of employment were forced to leave the region. This deplorable state of affairs was caused by overproduction, by a want of vessels to transport the coal to eastern ports, and by the extreme pressure of the money market. It may be truthfully said that the trade was suffering because of the underconsump- tion of coal, for if the country had remained in its nor- mal condition of prosperity all the coal that could have been produced would have found a ready market.
The aggregate supply of anthracite coal from all the regions during the first twenty years of its production- commencing with the year 1820, and ending with the year 1839-was 5,723,997 tons. Of this amount the Schuylkill region furnished 3.346,413 tons, or 58 per cent. To this preponderance of coal production was added superiority in the development and improvement of the region, Schuylkill surpassing the other regions in population, in all industrial and trade pursuits, and in every indication of prosperity. This can be easily ac- counted for. The Schuylkill region had an advantage in distance to tide water, in the accessibility and facility of development of its coal beds, and it was open to the enterprise of all who chose to enter. The Schuylkill Navigation Company was incorporated without mining privileges, and it was consequently the interest of the
52
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
company to invite tonnage from every source. Hence public attention was strongly attracted toward the south- ern coal field. In the Lehigh region an overshadowing monopoly controlled the coal trade, and for many years repelled all competition. Consequently the trade was restricted, and the growth of the country and the de- velopment of its resources retarded. The same observa- tions apply to the Lackawanna region. The Wyoming region had not yet been opened.
The great depression in the coal trade continued throughout 1840, without a noticeable improvement in its condition. On the 8th of January, 1841, there oc- curred an ice freshet of unexampled violence, in the Schuylkill and Lehigh rivers, which had a marked in- fluence upon the coal trade. The Schuylkill at Reading was higher than it had been for fifty-five years. It caused unusually heavy damage to many portions of the Schuylkill Navigation Company's works, particularly in the mountainous section above Reading. Measures were promptly taken to repair the damage sustained. It was not until the middle of May that all was in readiness to open the works throughout for the accommodation of the trade. The consequences of the flood on the Schuyl- kill were trifling, however, compared with the devasta- tion on the Lehigh, for there it assumed the proportions of a terrible and deplorable calamity. Cotemporary writers describe it as awful and tremendous. The ob- struction to navigation caused by the flood gave rise to an apprehension of a short supply of coal, and it stimu- lated the demand throughout the year. The great pros- tration of the trade during the two previous years had crippled the resources of the operators in the Schuylkill region to an almost ruinous extent, and a serious crisis in their affairs was only averted by the disaster on the At that time there were in use in the county thirty steam engines, amounting to upwards of 1,000 horse power. Twenty-two of these engines were manufactured in the county. Lehigh. How often has the coal trade been rescued from ruin and disaster by providential visitations inter- posing checks to overproduction. Just when the pro- ducers were disposed to abandon a pursuit that afforded more disappointment and worriment than satisfaction and remuneration a good year would be interjected and fresh hopes be inspired. The chance of an occasional happy stroke of fortune gave a fascination to the busi- The rents paid to the owners of coal lands, for coal and timber leave, amounted to $200,000 in 1841; the average rent on coal alone was about twenty-five cents per ton. ness that always kept the ranks of its devotees full. The demand for coal was pressing and the season short. Great activity and energy were displayed in supplying the market. The urgency of the condition of affairs The greatest depth attained in mining below the water level in 1842 was 153 feet perpendicular below the level of the Schuylkill river in dam No. 1 of the navigation; and at that depth the coal was found to be as good in quality and as thick in the vein as at the surface. developed a troublesome element in the trade, which was a marked feature in the year's operations. We allude to the extravagant rates of freight on coal on the Schuylkill canal. The freight from Pottsville to Philadelphia ranged from $1.10 to $2 per ton, the average for the whole season being $1.50; and the freight from Potts- PHILADELPHIA AND READING RAILROAD. ville to New York commenced at $2.75 per ton, and rose In the progress of our sketch, we have reached an epoch in the history of the anthracite coal trade of Schuylkill county of paramount interest and importance- the opening of a new avenue to market from the Schuyl- kill coal field, by the completion of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. The commanding influence this rail- as high as $4.40, averaging for the season $3.42. The great competition among shippers in procuring boats, and the pernicious expedients resorted to, were the cause, mainly, of the rise in freights. The weekly ship- ments from the Schuylkill region in 1841 were larger than they had ever been before, and the shipments for road has had, and must continue to have, upon the
the year showed a gain over those of the previous year of 127,161 tons. The average price of Schuylkill white ash lump coal by the cargo at Philadelphia was $5.79 per ton during the year. This was an advance of 88 cents per ton over the average price of the previous year.
STATISTICS.
At a public meeting of persons engaged in the coal trade of Schuylkill county, held at Pottsville January 31st, 1842, a report on the coal statistics of that county was made, by which it appears that the value of the real estate and personal property, and the cost of the public improvements dependent upon the coal operations of that district, were as follows: 65 miles incorporated railroads, $650,000; 40 miles individual railroads, $90,- 000; 40 miles individual railroads, underground, $40,- 000; 2,400 railroad cars, $180,000; 1,500 drift cars, $45,- 000; 17 collieries below water level, with steam engines, etc., $218,000; 9 steam engines for other purposes, $14,- 000; 100 collieries above water level, $150,000; 80 land- ings at shipping ports, $160,000; 850 boats, $425,000; 900 boat horses, $54,000; 80,000 acres coal land, at $40 per acre, $3,200,000; working capital, $200,000; towns, etc., in the coal region, $2,500,000; Schuylkill canal, $3,800,000; Philadelphia and Reading railroad, cars, etc., $5,000,000; Danville and Pottsville railroad, $800,000. Total, $17,526,000.
Population engaged in or entirely dependent on the coal trade, 17,000; number of horses employed in boat- ing and at the collieries, 2, 100; agricultural products an- nually consumed, $588.572; merchandise consumed annually, $918,325.
The market created in the coal region for the produce of the farmer had more than doubled the value of the farms in the county of Schuylkill, and materially enhanced the value of some portions of adjoining counties.
53
THE READING RAILROAD-RIOTIOUS MINERS.
destiny of this important and rapidly augmenting trade entitles it to the greatest attention and the most profound consideration. The Schuylkill navigation, which was the pioneer public improvement and channel of communi- cation between the Schuylkill coal region and tide water, had afforded up to this period ample accomodation to the coal trade; and to the Schuylkill Navigation Com- pany must be accorded great credit for the inestimable aid it extended, by means of its works, in the develop- ment of the resources of the valley of the Schuylkill, and of the mineral treasure embedded in the mountains of Schuylkill county. The time had, however, arrived when another avenue to market was required for the accomo- dation of the prospective increase in the consumption of anthracite coal, and the completion of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was hailed with universal satisfac- tion. The benefits that could reasonably be expected from this great improvement were fully appreciated. Its ultimate effect was to revolutionize the entire modus operandi of the coal business.
On the first of January, 1842, the first locomotive en- gine and passenger train -- with the officers and directors of the company on board-came through from Philadel- phia to Mount Carbon. On Monday and Tuesday, the Ioth and 11th of January, a grand excursion party of citizens of the coal region passed over the road to Phila- delphia and back by invitation of the directors. On the evening of the 11th a public dinner and ball was given at Pottsville, which closed the ceremonies of the opening of the road.
The immediate effect of its completion was a reduction in the cost of transportation. An immediate rivalry was instituted between the canal and railroad companies for the coal traffic, resulting in a reduction in the cost of transportation of $1.11 compared with the rates of 1841 by canal to Philadelphia. But this reduction was of no benefit to the producers, who, in the ardor of competi- tion, instead of advancing the price of coal proportion- ately with the reduction in freights, lowered them twenty- five to fifty cents per ton on board boats at the landings. Never before had prices been so low. Coal was a perfect drug in the market. So sluggish was the movement of the trade, so short the demand, that it was impossible to keep the collieries running with any regularity. The prices of coal declined to so low a figure that it was ruin- ous to all engaged in the business. Unquestionably the most disastrous year of the trade since its commencement was 1842. The operatives at the mines, with low wages and only partial employment, were reduced to great suf- fering and distress. Wages had fallen to $5.25 per week to miners and $4.20 to laborers, payable in traffic. There was scarcely cash enough paid out at some mines to bury the dead. It was a sore grievance to the work- ingmen that they did not receive money for their little earnings instead of "store orders." The excuse for the payment of the men in traffic was that the exigencies of the trade made it unavoidable, and that " half a loaf was better than no bread." Such an attempt at vindication only made more conspicuous the utter demoralization of
the trade. There could be no logical justification for de- priving the laboring man of the satisfaction of drawing the amount of his earnings-after deducting charges vol- untarily contracted-in the currency of the country. The continuance of the practice led to deplorable con- sequences. The dissatisfaction gradually increased until it culminated in the first general strike in the region.
STRIKE IN 1842.
On Thursday, July 7th, 1842, a meeting of miners and laborers was held at Minersville, about four miles from Pottsville, at which the grievances of the workingmen were discussed, and measures for their redress decided upon. It does not appear that any conference was held with their employers, or complaint made by committee, preliminary to the inauguaration of forcible measures. Through the influence of some of the turbulent spirits who swayed their councils they were incited to violence, intimidation and outrage as a first resort. Accordingly, on Saturday afternoon, the 9th of July, the first demon- stration was made. The citizens of Pottsville were startled by the appearance in the town of several hun- dred men, begrimed with the dust of the mines and armed with clubs and other weapons. They came down the Norwegian Railroad, passed hastily along to the landings at the Greenwood basin, driving the laborers engaged there away by force, and thence to Mount Car- bon, where the laborers were likewise driven away. This invasion was so unexpected that the outrage was per- petrated before the citizens were prepared to prevent it, or to make any arrests. In the evening of the same day two companies of volunteers were ordered to Minersville for the protection of the citizens, who were alarmed for their safety on account of divers threats and demonstra- tions of intended violence. On Monday the sheriff ordered the Orwigsburg and Schuylkill Haven volunteer companies to march to Pottsville and aid in suppressing any disturbance that might ensue. On the same day about a thousand of the disaffected workingmen met in the Orchard at Pottsville, when they were addressed by the District Attorney, F. W. Hughes, who explained the law to them. The behavior of the men throughout the day was characterized by order and decorum. There were about fifteen hundred men engaged in the strike, many of whom were dragooned into it by the force of intimidation. After having committed numerous acts of violence and outrage at the colleries, and spent several weeks in idleness, those of them who could obtain em- ployment were glad to accept it upon any terms.
The Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad was the first road in Schuylkill county put in condition for the passage of the cars of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. On the third of March, 1842, eighteen cars passed over it from the mines of Gideon Bast, at Wolff creek, and were forwarded by rail to Philadelphia.
On the 17th of May, 1842, the Philadelphia and Read- ing Railroad was open for transportation to the wharves at Port Richmond, and on the 21st of that month the
54
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
first train, of fifty cars, containing 150 tons of coal from the mines of Gideon Bast, was forwarded to that point. The train left Schuylkill Haven at four o'clock in the morning, and the coal was discharged into a vessel which set sail for an eastern port in the evening of the same day. This transaction presented a striking contrast to the slow movement' by canal, and it gave the trade an idea of the facility with which the coal business could be conducted by rail when all the arrangements were com- pleted.
On the 8th of August, 1842, the information was given to the public, in the Philadelphia Evening Journal, that eight barks, four brigs and eight schooners were counted at the wharves at Port Richmond, loading with and waiting for cargoes of anthracite coal. The reporter of this intelligence did not dream that the day would come when 225 vessels could be loading at those wharves at the same time, when 28,000 tons of coal would be shipped therefrom in one day, 95,858 tons in one week, 2,720,027 tons in one year, and that their capacity for shipping would be 4,000,000 tons annually. Yet all of this came to pass within thirty-five years.
The average price of coal in 1842 on board vessels at Philadelphia was $4.18 per ton, a decline of $1.61 per ton compared with the average price of the preceding year. The average price in 1843 was $3.25 per ton, a further decline of 93 cents. The reduction in the price by the cargo in Philadelphia since the opening of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad-two years- was about $2.50 per ton.
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