USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 14
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as a radical remedy for the evils that encompassed the trade. The Reading Railroad Company succeeded in thwarting this project. The increase in the supply of coal in 1859 compared with the supply in 1855, from all the regions, was 1, 136,909 tons, while during the same period the decrease from the Schuylkill region was 326,533 tons.
A notable feature of the Schuylkill coal trade in 1858 was the upheaval of labor. Strikes for higher wages were frequent, and in some instances stubbornly pro- longed. Wages were based upon the prices of coal and were undoubtedly reduced to a low standard. The workingmen got all that the proceeds of their labor would bring in the market; while their employers were receiving nothing for the use of their capital. The at- tempt to exact more than their labor was worth at that time, by a combination and turnout, was necessarily a failure, and it recoiled upon those who essayed it, with suffering and loss.
The supply of anthracite coal from all the regions during the first forty years of the trade-from 1820 to 1860-was 83,887,934 tons. Of this amount the Schuyl- kill region furnished 42,719,723 tons, or 50.93 per cent. In the decade ending with 1849 the Schuylkill region furnished 54.62 per cent. of the whole supply; in the de- cade ending with 1859 it furnished 49 per cent. Com- paring the shipments from each region during the ten years ending with 1859 with the shipments of the ten preceding years, we find an increase from the Schuylkill region of 18,047,106 tons, or 169.62 per cent .; from the Lehigh region of 7,359,920 tons, or 170 per cent .; from the Wyoming region of 12,531,661 tons, or 285.72 per cent .; and from the Shamokin region of 1, 185.402 tons, or 809 per cent. The aggregate increase from all the regions was 39, 151,089 tons.
The supremacy heretofore held by the Schuylkill coal trade was gradually departing. The tendency of the trade was alarming, and it invoked the profound so- licitude of the intelligent operators, whose fortunes were involved in its prosperity or adversity. For a number of years investigations and interchange of opinions had been made in regard to the characteristics of coal min- ing in the Schuylkill region-the errors committed and the remedies best to be applied. Proud of their achieve- ments as individual operators, in contrast with incor- porated companies, yet there was a decided change of opinion manifested about this time (1860) in regard to the wisdom of the system upon which their mining oper- ations had so far been conducted. The mistakes of the region were becoming manifest, and their consequences obvious to all. It was becoming more and more evident that associated capital was essential for the development and improvement of the region thenceforward. Since the trade first sprang into importance, very nearly all the money made in it was invested in improvements upon leasehold properties, of insufficient area for durable operations. In a paper read by P. W. Sheafer before
63
GRIEVANCES OF SCHUYLKILL COAL OPERATORS.
" It is doubtless unfavorable to the profitable working of our coal beds that there is frequently both a want of capital and of the proper concentration of that which exists. Certainly no method of mining coal can be less economical than to fit out a number of separate opera- tions upon comparatively small estates, with all the necessary engines and other improvements, instead of selecting a suitable point from which the coal of several adjacent tracts could be worked by one large operation equipped in the best manner. This policy can only be carried out effectively by the union of the proprietors of adjacent tracts. Indeed the pursuit of the coal below the water level, requiring increased capital, has already tended to the concentration of the business of mining in fewer hands ; and as the necessity of shafting to the lower coals becomes more apparent, the discussion, among those interested, of an enlightened system of harmonious action is more and more frequent."
CONDITION OF SCHUYLKILL OPERATORS.
The Schuylkill coal operators were scarcely ever with- out a grievance. Being subject to the arrangements of the transporting companies for the movement of their product, they were as a consequence peculiarly exposed to measures of a grievous tendency. They had no voice in the regulation or control of one of the most important elements of their business-transportation to market. The tolls imposed were inexorable and they were cun- ningly devised to stimulate production of tonnage with- out promoting the prosperity of the producer. In the Schuylkill, as in the Lackawanna and other regions, the coal mining interest was reduced to a subservient vas- salage to the transporting interest. The operators, in- stead of being recognized by the carrying companies as patrons or customers, whom it was politic to cultivate, were regarded as machines to provide tonnage for their lines, which it was their interest to keep in good running order-that and nothing more. The coal operators might have asked with great propriety whether individual enterprise in coal mining, with hired transportation, could ever compete with the large companies possessing mining, trafficking and transporting privileges.
report of the managers, showed that the quantity of coal transported in 1860 was 1,878,156 tons, and the receipts for tolls on coal were $2,328, 157.52. A comparison with the coal business of the road in 1859 shows an increase of 245,224 tons carried; an increase of $444.472.40 in receipts and an increase of $367,742.86 in profits. The net profit on the general business of the company, after deducting all expenses and the renewal fund, was $1,625,984.67. The dividend fund after deducting in- terest on the bonded debt was $894,863.67 as against $388,329.42 in 1859. The report makes a very favorable exhibit to the stockholders, but at the same time it seems to justify the complaints of illiberal exactions in the charges imposed.
the supply of coal from the Wyoming region exceeded in quantity that from the Schuylkill, and this supremacy it has held ever since, except in 1865 and 1866. The entire supply of 1861 was 595,001 tons less than in the preceding year. The falling off in the Schuylkill region was 653,903 tons. The war excitement interfered seriously with the movement of the coal trade, and many of the collieries were crippled by the departure of num- bers of miners and laborers, who had enlisted as volun- teers in the army. The general depression in business that prevailed this year, and the prostration of the iron trade and other industrial pursuits of a peaceful char- acter especially, induced a greatly diminished consump- tion. Competition, always excessive, was doubly inten- sified, and prices of coal depressed almost beyond precedent. The general result of the year's business was consequently even less favorable than in 1860.
The same disadvantages and inequality under which the Schuylkill trade struggled in 1860 were again imposed by the transporting companies in 1861. The loss in coal tonnage of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was. 417,324 tons, and of the Navigation Company 173, 118 tons, compared with the tonnage of the previous year.
The operators felt that they had become the pack horses to bear the burdens of the trade for the benefit of the carrying companies. They believed that ruin would inevitably overtake every one engaged in the trade unless some effective remedy was promptly applied.
The extraordinary action of the Pennsylvania Coal Company in reducing the prices of coal in the spring of 1862, about fifty cents per ton below the opening rates of the preceding year, elicited a burst of indignation in all the coal regions. The promulgation of their circular paralyzed the trade. But the depression caused by that action proved to be the finale of the gloomy period in the history of the coal trade.
DAWN OF BETTER TIMES.
The increasing consumption of anthracite coal by the United States government for war purposes, and by manufacturers of war material, gave an impetus to the trade that was gradually improving its condition, and would have been quicker and more decided in its effects
The particular grievance with the Schuylkill operators in 1860 was that the rates of transportation did not place them on an equality with the producers from other regions in the New York and eastern markets. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, in the had it not been for the folly of some of the producers.
It required the intervention of Providence to administer a quick and effective remedy for the ills of the trade, and this was applied on the 4th of June, 1862, by a flood of unexampled violence and destructiveness. The navi- gation of the Schuylkill was interrupted about three weeks, of the Lehigh until the 4th of October. One of the consequences of the freshet was a diminution of nearly a million of tons in the supply of coal for the year. Prices of coal, of transportation, and of labor rose rapidly. The price of coal on board vessels at Port Richmond advanced from $2.65 in April, to $5.75 before the end of the season, and averaged for the year $4.14, against $3.39 in 1861.
After the June freshet the miners became exacting. In 1861, for the first time in the history of the trade, Frequent acts of violence were committed and unlawful
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HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
demonstrations made by men on a strike. Before the close of the season numerous turnouts took place, and a number of collieries were forcibly stopped.
The project of building a railroad direct to New York was revived in 1862. On the 15th of July books for subscription to the stock of the Schuylkill Haven and Lehigh Railroad Company were opened at Philadelphia and a majority of the stock taken. On the 5th of August following the company was organized, engineers employed to locate the road, and a vigorous effort made to carry out the project. After the road had been put under con- struction the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Com- pany succeeded in stopping it.
The following railroads were leased by the Philadel- phia and Reading and taken possession of at the periods named : Schuylkill Valley and Mill Creek railroads, Sept. ist, 1861; Swatara, April Ist, 1862; Mount Car- bon, May 16th, 1862; Mahanoy and Broad Mountain, July Ist, 1862; Union Canal, July 25th, 1862.
The Mahanoy and Broad Mountain Railroad was com- pleted late in May, 1862. The first car of coal passed over the road on the 30th of May, from the mines of Connor and Patterson, consigned to Charles E. Smith, president of the Reading Railroad, Philadelphia. On the 4th of June occurred that memorable flood by which the road was so seriously damaged that three months were required to make the necessary repairs.
The demand for coal throughout 1863 exceeded the most extravagant calculations made early in the season, and was greater than the producing and transporting companies could supply. Prices consequently ruled higher than ever known before. The season opened with a bare market. Notwithstanding there was an increase of 1,747,445 tons in production during the year, the con- sumption was so great that no stock in first hands was left over for sale in any of the great markets. The prices of coal on board vessels at Philadelphia in 1863 advanced from $5.38 per ton in January to $7.13 in De- cember ; averaging for the year $6.06, as against $4.14 in 1862.
The cost of producing coal increased at a greater ra- tio than did its cost to consumers in the leading markets of the seaboard. The following comparison of the cost of the items named in November, 1862, and November, 1863, is taken from the books of a large operator. La- borers per week, $6, $12; miners, $7.50, $18; powder per keg, $4, $4-75; whale oil per gallon, .90, $1.25; iron rails per ton, $45, $90; corn per bushel, .60, .90, oats per bushel, .45, .90; hay per ton, $12, $30; lumber per thou- sand feet, $12, $28; mules each, $150, $240; miners by contract per day, $2, $5.
MOLLIE MAGUIRES.
The high wages received by miners caused consider- able dissatisfaction among those engaged in other pur- suits. The remuneration to skilled mechanics, to expe- rienced accountants, to mining engineers, to learned professional men, was far below that of the uneducated miner. The anomaly was presented of muscle, applied
six to eight hours per day, receiving better reward than brains, exercised from the rising to the setting of the sun. And yet those pampered miners demanded still more. The coal regions were rendered hideous by vio- lence and outrages committed in the enforcement of their importunate and unreasonable demands. The lives of the superintendents and agents of the operators were threatened in written notices, conspicuously posted, couched in execrable language and hideously embel- lished with drawings of pistols and coffins. Nor dip they hesitate to use their pistols upon any slight pretext or occasion, with the feelings and in the spirit of hired as- sassins. Their fellow workmen who were well disposed were forced to acquiesce, at the peril of their lives, in this reign of terror. To prevent the anthracite coal re- gions from sinking into a state of barbarity-to prevent the center of a great industry from becoming a pande- monium for outlaws-and to secure to the government a supply of coal for war purposes, it became necessary to occupy the coal fields with national troops. The rioters were controlled by a number of imported professional agitators, whose business it was to sow dissension, to cultivate discontent, and to organize conspiracies.
The coal regions also became the harbor of another class of immigrants, These were confirmed and harden- ed criminals, the scum of foreign lands. Desperate and unscrupulous, they were the terror of every neighbor- hood, and exercised a fearful domination over their fel- low workmen. These were the Mollie Maguires, the men to waylay and murder superintendents, to burn coal breakers, and to commit every description of outrage.
PERIOD OF GREATEST EXPANSION.
The year 1864 was a period of overflowing and boun- tiful prosperity. It was notable for the high standard of values of all staple commodities, and in the anthracite coal trade for the wonderful expansion in all its branches-with high prices for coal, high prices for labor, high rates for transportation, and a great appreciation in value of every material entering into the cost of the pro- duction of coal. It was also notable in the coal regions for the aggravated nature of the aggressions of labor against capital, and for the turbulence, violence and flagrant outrages committed with impunity by numbers of workmen employed at the mines. Such was the contemptuous disregard of the restraints of law and civilization, and such was the subdued meekness of capi- tal in its relation to labor, that a true and faithful narra- tive of the events of that and subsequent periods will scarcely be credited after the lapse of not many years.
The year was notable for the large fortunes suddenly acquired by the sale of collieries, as well as by the profits in mining; by the extensive sales of coal lands; and by the organization of numerous coal corporations. The exceptional times of 1864 afforded a number of coal operators an opportunity to retire from the business, with a competency who had been on the brink of bankrupt- cy. Of these a few were wise enough to embark in safer en- terprises. Many more returned to their first love, and were
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THE FLUSH TIMES OF 1864-OBSTRUCTIVE EMPLOYES.
scorched in the flames of their own carbon. Some invested in oil, and their hard earned gains soon slipped smoothly away. Very few were left after a few years who had any- thing substantial remaining of the good times of 1864.
The expansion of 1864 greatly hastened a revolution then under progress. The arrogance and demoralization of labor finally deprived capital of the control of its in- vestments. The operators having lost control of the business, and capital being repelled by lawlessness, the danger was that the coal regions would lapse into a wil- derness again. The transporting companies, to prevent these evil consequences and to preserve their coal ton- nage, were compelled to intervene and assume control of the coal producing interest. In this way the Schuylkill region was rescued from dilapidation by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. This event was not consummated until some years after the period under consideration, but it is alleged that the events of 1864 precipitated the revolution.
Very extensive sales were mide of coal lands in 1864 at prices ruling much higher than ever before, though some of the estates then sold commanded better prices subsequently, when the pulse of the capitalist beat in its normal condition. The purchase and sale of coal lands and collieries in 1864 were followed by a furor for acts of incorporation. In the Schuylkill, Mahanoy and Shamo- kin regions alone about fifty coal companies were organ- ized in that year. Many of them were organized for spec- ulative purposes alone, and they had but an ephemeral ex- istence. Others, with substantial assets and healthy or- ganizations, embarked in the business of mining and selling coal under favorable auspices, followed by consid- erable success.
The price of anthracite coal on board vessels at Port Richmond in 1864 ranged from $7.25 per ton in Janu- ary to $11 in August, declining to $8.50 in December. About the middle of September the trade became dull, with receding prices. Shipments fell off heavily, and prices declined $2 per ton in one month. In August coal retailed in New York at $13 to $14 for 2,000 pounds.
The commencement of the year was distinguished by a fresh installment of trouble in Cass township, at the mines of the Forest Improvement Company, which had commenced in 1863. On the 16th of February Generals Couch and Sigel visited the region to make inquiry into the state of affairs, which resulted in the beginning of April in stationing a portion of the 10th regiment of New Jersey in Cass township, which restored order in that district.
BOATMEN'S GRIEVANCES AND TURNOUT OF RAILROAD EMPLOYES.
riods of time, which would enable dealers to make con- tracts for the delivery of coal by canal at fixed sums, the company collecting the freights, who would account to the boatmen. The boatmen, however, regarded the pro- ject with great hostility, and Lecame very much excited upon the subject. They contended that it would be giv- ing all their privileges as individuals to the navigation company, and they declared that a combination had been formed between the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company and the Schuylkill Navigation Company, by which their interests were made identical. The rivalry between them ceased, they alleged, because the business was sufficient for both-the necessity for competition had passed away. The only obstacle to excessive charges for freight, they believed, consisted in the fact that the boat- men of the Schuylkill canal, being owners of the boats, could, upon the payment of the tolls, as limited by the charter of the navigation company, carry the coal at such rates as they deemed proper, and thereby enter into com- petition with both the canal and the railroad company.
The boatinen's idea of entering into competition with the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company-" that voracious and devouring monopoly "-for the conserva- tion of the coal trade was magnanimous, it was chivalrous. But even then it was too late. The fiat had gone forth- although not fully revealed-that for weal or for woe the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company was des- tined to own and control the Schuylkill coal trade, from the minutest filaments of the roots to the topmost branches of the tree. The obstacles attempted to be in- terposed by the boatment to the plans of that ambitious and powerful company were never felt, and the boatmen, before many years, were dependent upon that company for employment, protection and support. There was a time when the boatmen exercised considerable influence upon the coal trade. They were not so conservative then. They exacted the last dollar from the trade that it would bear. The most annoying branch of the busi- ness at that time was the freighting of boats on the canal. But it is not generous to visit the sins of the fathers upon even the second generation, and this second generation had been subjected to such a crucial ordeal in past years as to merit public sympathy.
In the first week of July, 1864, a turnout of the en- gineers and brakemen on the lateral railroads suspended the coal trade in the Schuylkill region. In consequence of the interruption to the supply of coal for government use the Reading railroad and its branches were seized for the military service of the United States, and a new set of hands sent on from Washington to work the lateral railroads. After two weeks demonstration of their strength-with parade and flourish of banners, accom- panied with music of drums and fife-the old hands resumed their positions without having obtained the object of the strike.
A difficulty occurred between the boatmen and the Schuylkill Navigation Company, growing out of the fact that the fluctuations in the freights had heretofore been an obstacle in making contracts for the delivery of coal by canal. The navigation company proposed to enter PATRIOTIC OPERATORS. into contracts with the boatmen to carry coal at fixed The great central fair for the Sanitary Commission rates of freight during the year, or at least for stated pe- held in Philadelphia in 1864 afforded an opportunity to
9
66
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
the liberal minded citizens of this country to show their patriotism, benevolence, and charity. To Colonel Henry L. Cake, of the St. Nicholas Colliery, in the Mahanoy region, belongs the honor of having originated and set the example of making contributions in coal to this great charity. No sooner was it known that he had set apart Saturday, May 14th, as his contribution of a day's pro- duction of coal from his colliery for the benefit of the fair than he was notified that the freight and toll would be remitted for its passage over the Reading Railroad and the Little Schuylkill Railroad, so that the good cause would receive the whole proceeds of the sale of the coal. The coal-forty cars, containing 210 tons-was sold at the Corn Exchange rooms in Philadelphia on Monday, the 16th of May. The proceeds amounted to $1,605.20. The largest contribution made was by Davis Pearson & Company, being half the proceeds of the sale of 101 cars of coal, amounting to $1,830.61. In addition to the above we find the following reported from the Schuylkill region. The total amount contributed from the an- thracite regions was $62,003.46. The employes of the following houses contributed the sums mentioned: St. Nicholas Colliery, $200; Wheeler, Miller & Co., $124.53; J. & E. Sillyman, $125; Hammet, Vandusen & Co., $305; George W. Snyder, $314.75; William Milnes, Jr., & Co., $511.50; J. M. Freck & Co., $154.85: T. Garretson & Co., $248.69. There were donated by T. Garretson & Co. 41 cars of coal; J. & E. Sillyman added $200 to the gifts of their employes mentioned above.
FLUCTUATIONS IN TRADE.
That the inflated prices of all commodities in 1864 should recede as the rebellion faded away was natural, and a transition state of trade generally was revealed in 1865. The immediate effect of the restoration of peace was a partial paralysis of the iron trade. and of the manufacture of cotton and woolen fabrics; and a long list of supplies for the army and navy received a check to their manufacture. This was followed by a stagnation in the coal trade, and a decline in prices to a point below the cost of production. The demand from the govern- ment almost ceased, and from manufacturers it was very much diminished, at a reduction in prices of over $2 per ton. To meet this great change, a new basis of operations was necessary. A reduction in expenses was essential. Labor was the principal element in the cost of producing coal, and the wages of labor were out of proportion to the value of its productions. A reduction was proposed of twenty-five to thirty-three per cent. in wages, which was resisted. A partial suspension of work at the col- lieries followed. Not until after two months time were the terms of the reduction generally accepted.
ing capacity of other regions and again ran up the price of coal and labor. The loss in the supply of coal, com- pared with that of the year 1864, which was over a million of tons on the ist of August, was reduced at the end of the year to 625,896 tons. So rapid was the ad- vance in wages that by the Ist of October they had risen $5 a week to laborers, and about 55 cents a wagon for cutting coal, above August prices. The price of lump coal by the cargo at Philadelphia opened at $8.38 in January, declined to $6.03 in July, and advanced to $8.93 in October, averaging for the year $7.86, as against $8.39 in 1864.
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