History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 12

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell
Number of Pages: 604

USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 12

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

DISCOURAGEMENT.

The result of the operations of 1843 in the Schuylkill region was of course very unsatisfactory. It was a repe- tition, somewhat exaggerated, of the previous year. They were both very distressing years, when every species of property was alarmingly depreciated and every description of business appeared to be paralyzed. But, notwithstand- ing the dark shadows of the past and the gloom of the present, there was a remarkable infatuation throughout the region to rush into the coal business. Storekeepers, mechanics, and others who had been enabled to save a little money could not rest contented until they had lost it in a coal mine. Labor was cheap, they argued, and then was the propitious time to develop the mines, and be prepared for the good times coming. The older operators, however, who had pinned their faith upon the trade, and who had so long relied upon the coming tide " which taken at the flood leads on to fortune," began now to realize that there was something radically wrong in the conduct of the coal business. Every year those persons engaged in it became poorer, and many had lost all they formerly possessed in this hazardous pursuit. A very few only, who had superior mines and advantageous locations, were enabled, with economical working, to re- alize any profit at the close of the year. The opportunities which nature had so lavishly provided for the attainment of business success were frittered away by a system of empirical mining and reckless competition. The richness

of the coal deposits in the Schuylkill region, and their great accessibility, seem to have invited a superfluity of delvers, who like bungling reapers destroyed the harvest they had not the skill and wisdom to garner. Overpro- duction, from the commencement of the trade, has been the main cause of failure in colliery operations. In 1843 there were many operators, the product of whose mines was so small that a handsome profit per ton mined would not have paid the salary of the superintendent. Many operators were so cramped in their circumstances, in consequence of previous losses and a want of capital, that they were evermore "tiding over " a pressing crisis in their affairs by forced sales of their coal, ending in their own ruin and the demoralization of the trade generally.

PRIMITIVE METHOD OF PREPARING COAL-BREAKERS.

The original method of preparing anthracite coal for market was simply to divest it of slate and other impu- rities and of the fine coal and slack. It was passed over a schute with longitudinal bars about two inches apart, and all that passed over the bars was merchantable coal, and all that passed through them was rejected. There was consequently much coal deposited on the dirt banks, which at the present time is considered of full value; also much left in the mines as unmerchantable on account of its small size. The market would not accept any coal that would not pass for lump coal. After a number of years, however, it was suggested that coal for household purposes ought to be broken at the mines, and John White, the president of the Delaware Coal Company, paid fifty cents per ton extra for coal broken down to a size suitable for burning in grates. The coal thus pre- pared was known in the market as "broken and screened" and it commanded fifty cents per ton more than lump coal. Finding this mode of preparation received popular favor, the system was extended. Screens were manu- factured of iron rods ( subsequently of wire ) with meshes of various dimensions, which assorted the coal into the sizes now known in commerce. This refinement of prepa- ration, resorted to by the operators to captivate their customers, added greatly to the cost of the coal, for which they were not remunerated, and it cultivated a fas- tidious fancy for a uniformity of size, which was im- practicable and of no advantage. Indeed, the caprice of the consumers in the demand for the different sizes of coal, and the fluctuations from one size to another in their preferences, have been a fruitful source of expense and annoyance to the operators ever since the introduc- tion of the system.

The first method of breaking coal-on the pile, with hammers-was slow, wasteful, expensive, and laborious. After being broken it was shoveled into a revolving sceen to remove the dirt, and it was then shoveled into bar- rows and dumped into the cars. The coal was then hauled to the landings with horses or mules on the rail- road, dumped on the wharf, screened and assorted into the various sizes and deposited on a pile, ready to be wheeled into the boat. The whole process was crude,

THE FIRST BREAKER-RAILROAD IMPROVEMENTS.

primitive, expensive, and, compared with the present system, absurd.

About the year 1842 the breaking and preparation of coal became the subject of great cogitation among the operators, and many improvements were suggested, re- sulting in the adoption of what became known as the penitentiary ; which was a perforated cast iron plate, through which the coal was broken with hammers, the coal falling into a hopper, and from thence into a circular screen worked either by hand, horse power, or by steam. It was an improvement on the old system, but it did not meet the requirements of the business.

The first attempts to break coal by machinery were made at Pottsville, we believe, by Mr. Sabbaton, and by Mr. Larer, but, not proving as successful as was antici- pated, they were afterward abandoned.

In 1844 the first coal breaker, after the patent of Jo- seph Batten, of Philadelphia, was erected as an experi- ment at the colliery of Gideon Bast, at Wolff Creek, near Minersville. So superior was this improvement that it was soon generally adopted throughout the coal regions. The machinery constituting the breaker was driven by a steam engine, generally of fifteen to forty horse power, and it consisted of two or more cast iron rollers with projecting teeth, revolving toward each other, through which the coal was passed; and the coal thus broken was conducted into revolving circular screens, separating the different sizes and dropping the coal into a set of schutes or bins, ready to be transferred, by the raising of a gate, into the railway cars. Sufficient eleva- tion above the railway to the dump schutes above the rollers was always secured to carry the coal by gravity through all the stages of preparation into the cars below. Such is the modern coal breaker, which enables the op- erator to handle an amount of coal that was impossible before its adoption, some of these structures having a ca- pacity of one thousand tons per day. The reader can form no idea of these huge structures from a written description. In a few years they became the conspicu- ous and striking feature of every colliery of any import- ance in the several coal fields.

IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILROADS.

The average price of white ash lump coal by the cargo in Philadelphia in 1844 was $3.20 per ton, which was the lowest figure it had ever been sold at. This reduc tion was caused entirely by the low ratio of transporta - tion, induced by the active competition between the canal and railroad interests. The prices of coal at the shipping ports in Schuylkill county ranged from $2.00 to $2.25 per ton, and were fairly remunerative. The de- mand was good throughout the season, and the result of the year's business was very satisfactory. A great impe- tus was given to manufactures and all industrial interests by the operation of the tariff of 1842, causing an increas- ed consumption of anthracite coal. The increase in pro- duction in the Schuylkill region over that of 1843 was 166,002 tons.

270,003 tons over those of 1844 in the Schuylkill region. The region had doubled its production since 1842, and still maintained the position it had held since 1832 of supplying more than one-half the amount of anthracite coal sent to market. From the commencement of the trade in 1820 to the end of 1845 the total amount sent from all sources was 13,629,393 tons, of which the Schuylkill region furnished 7,673, 163 tons, an excess over all others of 1,716,933 tons.

At the completion of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in 1842 to Mount Carbon, which was then its terminus, it had merely progressed to the entrance gates of the great southern coal field. Before the heavy coal tonnage for which the company was aiming could be secured there was much more to be done. All the rail- roads in Schuylkill county leading from the landings or shipping ports on the canal to the collieries were in their superstructure wooden roads, strapped with flat bar iron; they were not adapted to the movement of the heavy cars of the Reading Railroad Company, and it was en- tirely impracticable to run locomotive engines over them. Moreover, there were connections only with the Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven and the Mount Carbon Rail- roads. A bridge was required at Port Clinton to connect with the Little Schuylkill Railroad; and a new road was required to connect Mount Carbon with the Mill Creek and Schuylkill Valley Railroads at Port Carbon. These lateral' railroads were owned by different incorporated companies, who levied tolls on the coal transported over them, of from two and a half to four cents per ton per mile. In connection with these roads were many short branches, belonging to individuals. All of these roads had to be reconstructed to comport with the changes made in coal transportation.

Before the close of 1845 the lateral railroads had all been reconstructed, and they were operated, with some exceptions, by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. The introduction of the company's cars on said roads produced a complete revolution in the management of the coal business. When the canal was the only avenue to market the operators had their own cars, and they furnished their own transportation to the landings. They were now saved the expense of keep- ing up this car equipment, and the transportation to the terminus of the lateral road, when motive power was used, was reduced from fifty to sixty-six per cent; but __ they were dependent upon a transportation company for facilities to conduct an essential part of their business, and had thereby lost control of the amount of their pro- duction. A short supply of cars became a great griev- ance, and it crippled many operations. Although the railroad company had been increasing its rolling stock every year it had been unable to keep pace with the de- mand of the trade for cars. In 1845 the company was overwhelmed with complaints, both of the short supply of cars and of their unfair distribution. The at- tention of the president of the company having been directed to the abuses of the distribution, he manifested

The shipments of coal in 1845 show an increase of a disposition to extend every accommodation in his

HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.

power. On the 5th of March, 1846, he addressed a cir- cular note to the operators, requesting them to attend a meeting at Pottsville on the 10th of that month, to devise means to insure an equitable distribution of cars during the ensuing season. The meeting was largely attended, embracing all the operators in the region, a number of landholders, and a large representation of wharfholders at Port Richmond. The interest felt in the proceedings was earnest and absorbing, many of those present believ- ing that their business interests had been inexcusably trifled with, and improved regulations were adopted.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SCHUYLKILL NAVIGATION.

The Schuylkill Navigation Company had learned, after a few years' experience and competition with its formida- ble rival, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Com- pany, that it was in danger of losing the bulk of its coal tonnage, and that to preserve it decided measures must be adopted immediately and put into execution to im- prove the facilities of the navigation, to enlarge its capac- ity, and to generally increase its advantages and attrac- tions as an avenue for the transportation of coal. An enlargement of the canal, increasing its capacity so as to float boats of from 180 to 190 tons burden, was deter- mined upon, and the work was completed in 1846.

In order to bring this improved navigation into active employment the company directed its attention to the new arrangements required at the shipping ports in the coal region. The old landings were not adapted to the large cars made necessary by the wide guage of the re- constructed railroads and the use of locomotive power upon them; and the old docks were too contracted for the large barges adapted to the enlarged navigation. New docks, new wharves and landings were consequently required. Prior to the enlargement of the canal and the reconstruction of the lateral railroads, the shippers pro- vided their own landings or rented them from the owners, and they furnished their own cars; nor was it uncommon for the shippers to furnish or partially furnish their own boats. The extension of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad into the region, and the facilities offered to the trade by it, changed the situation, and it devolved upon the navigation company, in order to keep pace with its rival, to furnish the cars in which to transport the coal from the mines to the canal, and to provide all the ship- ping facilities. It is due to the managers to acknowledge that this enterprise was performed in a manner highly satisfactory to the trade. The new landings were admir- ably contrived for the purposes intended, combining every essential for convenience, economy and dispatch.

The coal operators regarded the improved and en- larged navigation with unmingled satisfaction. The pre- sumed ability of the navigation company, in its improved condition, to cope with its powerful rival would, it was believed, inure to the advantage of the trade.

The amount of coal sent from the Schuylkill region in 1846 was 1,247,202 tons, a gain of 121,408 over 1845. The trade was reasonably prosperous, the prices fair and well maintained. There were 110 operators in the re-

gion and 142 colleries. Thirty-two operators sent to market in round numbers 990,000 tons, leaving only 247,000 tons as the product of seventy-eight operators. There were 107 colleries above and 35 colleries below water level. Twenty-two colleries were in a state of preparation, 12 of which were above and 10 below water level. There were 106 steam engines, of 2,921 horse power, employed at the colleries, 38 of which were built during the year.

Great expectations of the future of the Schuylkill coal trade were entertained at this period. The Miners' Journal, of Pottsville, remarked upon the prospect as follows: " When we consider the indomitable spirit of perseverance and enterprise which pervades our business community; the two splendid avenues to market, now completed; the numerous railroads penetrating through and almost encircling our region, all of which are now or will soon be relaid with heavy iron rails; the immense steam power, equaling the capacity of more than 14,000 men, with its iron sinews and unwearied toil, employed in raising, breaking and screening coal; the extent and capacity of the region, the varieties of its coal and its geographical position-it must be clear to the minds of all that Schuylkill county is destined hereafter to increase in wealth and prosperity to an unexampled degree, and far to outstrip her competitors."

The supply of anthracite coal from all the regions in 1847 was 2,977,400 tons, an excess over that of the pre- ceding year of 686,623 tons. This was the largest annual increase that had ever occurred. Of this excess 398,72 1 tons were from the Schuylkill region, notwithstanding there were complaints of a want of transporting facilities during the whole year. This condition of affairs afforded strong evidence of the great preparations that had been made, within a year or two, to increase the yield of the mines ; and it presented another example of the irre- pressible tendency of the coal producers to overstock the market.

RIVALRY IN TRANSPORTATION.

The Schuylkill Navigation Company transported only 222,693 tons of coal in 1847, the first year after the en- largement, which was attributed to a deficient equipment and an injudicious tarriff of tolls, which repelled the line trade.

The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company was deeply impressed with the folly of continuing the war which had characterized the business of 1845 in the struggle with the Navigation Company, and it was anxious to enter into an amicable arrangement with the latter company, of mutual advantage, whereby harmonious re- lations might be established and perpetuated. Early in 1847 an attempt at negotiation between the two com- panies was made. Believing that the canal would be capable of carrying the increased production, the railroad company made no preparation to extend its business, and it conceded 400,000 tons of the coal tonnage for the ensuing year to the Navigation Company. The latter company rejected this offer with disdain, insisting upon

THE COAL TRADE IN 1849.

500,000 tons as its share of the trade. This not being acceded to, the negotiations were broken off, and each company made its own arrangements. It happened that both companies had all the tonnage they could carry, and their united facilities were not equal to the demand of the trade. The sequel was that of 1,583,374 tons of coal sent to market in 1847 by the two avenues, only 222,693 tons were sent by the Schuylkill canal.

The stock of coal remaining over in the market on the Ist of April, 1848, was estimated at 275,000 tons ; a bur- den under which the trade dragged heavily during the prostration of business generally diminished the con- sumption and checked the demand for coal. The result was a break down in prices and a great demoralization in the trade. The production in the Schuylkill region showed an increase of only 89,297 tons.

An agreement entered into between the railroad and navigation companies for the government of the trans- portation of coal during 1849 had for its basis the prin- ciple that the toll and transportation from Pottsville to Port Richmond and Philadelphia, by railroad, should be ninety-five cents per ton more than by canal from Pottsville to Philadelphia. The transportation of one-third of the coal tonnage was conceded to the canal, which was esti- mated at 600,000 tons for this year-the amount actually transported being only 489,208 tons. The tolls for 1849 were adjusted so as to average $1.70 per ton by rail, and 75 cents per ton by canal. These rates were regarded as too high for the languishing condition of the trade-they did not admit of a competition in the market on an equality with other regions. It was not apparent to the average understanding why the Philadelphia and Read- ing Railroad Company should charge $1.70 per ton for a service that cost no more than 65 cents, or why the Schuylkill Navigation Company should charge 75 cents per ton for a service that it performed without loss before the "enlargement " at 50 cents per ton. How, it was asked, about the great advantages over all other lines of the Reading railroad, with its admirable and uniformly descending grades, in favor of the trade? How about the great reduction in the cost of transportation that was to be accomplished by the improved, the enlarged, the magnificent Schuylkill navigation ?

county had been brought to the verge of bankruptcy by a bold and novel system that had been devised in the previous year, and had been again introduced at that time. Some speculative persons enter the eastern mar- kets in advance of the producers, and by offering coal- which they had not yet bought-at prices below the cost of its production they secure all the orders for immediate delivery. The nature of mining requires that the daily product shall have an uninterrupted sale and removal from the mines. Having thus all the orders in their hands, these forestallers avail themselves of this peculi-

whole year. In connection with this circumstance the arity in the business, and the want of union for common protection against such a scheme, to alarm the small colliers, and thus to break down the market prices to suit their purposes. In this way a barrier was created between the producers of coal and the consumers, keep- ing them effectually apart. To put a stop to this unjust system the colliers of Schuylkill county were strongly urged to form an efficient organization without unneces- sary delay. The principle was asserted that the only legitimate regulation of prices is the relation between supply and demand, with some reference, of course, to the cost of production.

SUSPENSION AND STRIKE.

It was then resolved, with the concurrence of the operators representing three-fourths of the tonnage of 1848, to suspend the shipment of coal to market from the 19th of March to the 7th of April, both inclusive, ex- cept to iron works. This suspension was subsequently continued from week to week until the end of May, mak- ing all together seven weeks.

On the 2nd of May, the day appointed for a resumption of work at the mines, the operators were confronted with an organized strike by the miners and laborers for an advance in wages. As usual upon such occasions this movement was attended with demonstrations of violence, the object being to compel their fellow laborers who were disposed to work to join their ranks. Where the men had made terms with their employers and had gone to work, they were driven from the works by large bodies of men armed with clubs and other weapons. The whole difficulty would have been promptly arranged had it not been for the interference of self-constituted leaders, styling themselves a central committee, who arrogated despotic power. The collieries were all in operation again by the 21st of May, but the demand for coal was very moderate, and in a few weeks there were symptoms of a drooping market. To prevent an overstock another suspension of work, for two weeks from the 23d of June, was determined upon. A lethargic feeling in the market continued to the end-no improvement took place, and prices were not maintained.

The low prices at which coal was offered in 1849, by the dealers in Philadelphia, about the first of March -- prices that would not net the operators the ruinous rates of the previous year-caused great excitement in Schuyl- kill county. A very large meeting of the operators was held at Pottsville on the ninth of March, at which a re- markable unanimity was exhibited and a stern resolution manifested to maintain the prices of coal at a remunera- tive rate, notwithstanding the sinister arts of the parasites who had fastened themselves upon the vitals of the trade. During the period of the suspension of mining much salutary discussion was had in regard to the morbid con- dition of the trade, and the reckless disregard of sound business principles and judicious regulation and control, with which it had been suffered to drift along, to the The co-operation of all the operators in the region was earnestly solicited in the adoption of such measures for their mutual protection as the exigency required. A committee appointed at a former meeting reported substantially that the people of Schuylkill inevitable ruin of all embarked in it. It was estimated

HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.

that the operators in the Schuylkill region had sunk in 1849 $250,000 on their current business alone, without considering interest on investment.

GENERAL CONDITION OF TRADE TO 1850.

The aggregate quantity of anthracite coal sent to mar- ket from the several coal fields in Pennsylvania during the first thirty years of the trade-from 1820 to 1850- was 25,230,421 tons; of which there was derived from the Schuylkill region 13,990,050 tons, or 55.45 per cent. The supply of the last ten years included in the above- from 1840 to 1850-included from the Schuylkill region 10,655,567 tons, or 54.63 per cent.

It will be observed in the above statements that the supply from the Schuylkill region exceeded that of all the other regions combined, and this was the result, mainly, of individual enterprise in competition with large incorporated companies endowed with special privileges. But while the Schuylkill region greatly surpassed all others in production, the conclusion was not so satis- factory in regard to remuneration for capital invested and time and labor expended. There were weak points in the management of the business which had a very un- favorable influence upon it. The profits realized in favorable years were immediately invested-often with as much more capital or credit as could be secured-in making improvements on lands in which only a leasehold interest was held; instead of requiring the landowners to develop and improve their own properties. In this way all the risk was assumed by the tenants, of the condition of the seams of coal when opened and of the value of the colliery when completed; while large sums of money were expended which were needed in the commercial routine of the business, and especially in marketing the coal without the aid of intermediary factors, who usually absorbed all the profit derived from its production.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 12

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell Number of Pages: 604

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell
Number of Pages: 604