USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 10
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the canal and the mines, and previous to their introduction only those mines nearest to the canal were operated.
On the IIth of March, 1833, a trial trip was made with a locomotive engine between Port Clinton and Tamaqua. The occasion excited great interest since this was the first locomotive introduced into Schuylkill county. It was made in Liverpool, and shipped to Phila- delphia, from which point it was conveyed in a wagon constructed for hauling marble, and with sixteen horses attached. The experi- ment, however, proved to be a failure. The superstructure of the track was not strong enough to sustain the unusual weight upon it, the rails spread, and the engine ran into the river.
Abraham Pott, previously mentioned in this chapter, was the first coal operator to use the drop-bottom cars, long since adopted into general use, and was also the first to advocate the use of cars with the wheels attached to revolving axles instead of those which revolved around a fixed axle. In the year 1829 Mr. Pott erected a steam engine to operate a saw-mill, this being the first stationary engine in the country ; and to him belongs the honor of being the first to use anthra- cite coal for the generation of steam.
The beginning of the year 1825 ushered in a new era in the history of the coal trade. The general acceptance of anthracite as a fuel for domestic use and for manufacturing and steam generating purposes, stimulated the demand and established a healthy market. During that year 6,500 tons were shipped from the Schuylkill region, this being, practically, the beginning of shipments over the canal. For the suc- ceeding four years the output was as follows: In 1826, 16,767 tons; in 1827, 31,360 tons; in 1828, 47,284 tons, and in 1829, 79,973 tons. Prices ranged from $3.08 in 1825, to $2.52 in 1829 at Pottsville. The expectations of the operators were at the highest pitch, and every line of business was made subservient to "King Coal." Pottsville re- sounded with the turmoil of business. The slow and tedious means of transportation was the only cause of complaint, and there seemed to be just reasons for complaint, in that the snail-like pace of a single horse, working only in daylight, was the motive power which propelled each boat. Then came a series of misfortunes to the canal; breaches and damaged locks delayed even this slow process, and the officials of the company were severely censured for apparent tardiness and in- efficiency in making repairs. When at last the navigation was restored, the operators were still clamorous that the canal did not afford suffi- cient accommodations for trade. In 1830 there were shipped from the Schuylkill region 89,984 tons, while doubtless the output from other
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localities had been correspondingly stimulated. The aggregate supply from all sources was 175,209 tons, yet the actual consumption of an- thracite in 1830 was only 126,581 tons, and the surplus of less than 50,000 tons stagnated the market. Prices were depressed, and the prosperous business suffered a reverse which continued throughout the year 1831. Prices of coal declined at Pottsville to $1.50 per ton, and miners' wages to $1 a day, while ordinary laborers received but 82 cents. The miners and laborers about the mines sought employment elsewhere, and in other lines of business, and their places could not be promptly filled on a favorable resumption of business later in the sea- son. The low prices of coal had stimulated consumption for domestic purposes, and during the fall and winter of 1831-2, the "surplus" had been exhausted, and the demand greatly exceeded the supply. The year 1831 closed with Schuylkill county coal selling in New York as high as $17 a ton. Business was resumed in the spring of 1832 under more favorable circumstances. Wages were increased for all kinds of labor, and the canal freights more than doubled those of the preceding year. The business of 1832 was ushered in on the 28th of March; when the first boat of the season left the wharf and a crowd of cheer- ing spectators. This proved to be the banner year in the Schuylkill coal trade, 209,271 tons being sent to market at the average price in Pottsville of $2.37, as against $1.50 the preceding year. The scarcity of boats and the presence of the Asiatic cholera in the country em- barrassed the coal business somewhat during this year ; and it also be- came apparent to the operators that they were the victims of a relent- less conspiracy on the part of the canal boatmen. The freight rates were regulated, largely, by the demand for boat-service, and not by any fixed schedule. When boats were scarce and the demand in excess of the supply, the most extortionate rates were demanded, together with a bonus of five or ten dollars for the "special accommodation." This intolerable outrage upon the people was at last broken up when the navigation company acquired the ownership of a majority of the boats, thus being enabled to establish uniform freight rates.
The Coal "Mining Association of Schuylkill County" was organized in January, 1832, and it was the first organization of the character in the coal fields. Upon its roll of members appeared the names of pioneers in the coal trade and men of superior force and enterprise. Burd Patterson was the president; John C. Offerman, vice-president; Samuel Lewis, treasurer ; Andrew Russel and Charles Lawton, secre- taries. A board of trade was also established with the following named prominent citizens who were early identified with the anthracite coal
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trade : Benjamin H. Springer, Samuel Brooke, Samuel J. Potts, M. B. Buckley, James E. White, Thomas S. Ridgway and Martin Weaver. This organization co-operated with the mining association in the de- velopment of business interests. The first report of the board of trade contained the following interesting figures : The cost of railroads then built was about $650,000 ; amount invested in coal lands and buildings in the county was estimated at $600,000; amount expended in opening veins of coal, in building fixtures, cars, etc., connected with mining, was $200,000 ; the cost of 500 boats was fixed at $250,000, thus a total investment was shown aggregating $7,106,000. It was declared that the saving in the cost of fuel since the introduction of anthracite coal approximated $6,000,000 annually, and that not a miner engaged in the business since its beginning had then realized a cent of profit.
The prevalent belief in 1833 was that the coal veins did not extend below the water level. The falsity of this position was shown by the enterprise of Mr. Burd Patterson and his co-investigator, Mr. Henry C. Carey. By the sinking of this slope it was demonstrated that the volume of the coal deposit was ten times greater than had ever been surmised ; and it also stimulated others to the effort, to the extent that by 1835, extensive preparations were made for investigating the un- known depths. Several slopes were under progress in that year, among them being one on the Black mine within the limits of the borough of Pottsville. Others were located on the York farm, at St. Clair, and in the vicinity of Port Carbon.
The coal trade of the year 1834 again met with a depression of busi- ness, due to over-production, and the general stagnation of financial affairs portending the great financial panic which soon overwhelmed the country. The blighting effect of the unfavorable conditions of trade seriously affected the laboring classes when about one thousand men were thrown out of employment in the Schuylkill district alone. But the business conditions assumed a more favorable aspect in 1835, and a continual increase in the consumption for domestic and manu- facturing purposes, stimulated the production beyond that of the pre- ceding year by nearly 120,000 tons.
During the year 1835 occurred the first labor trouble of which any record appears in the annals of Schuylkill county. This was the "boat-men's strike," which seriously interfered with the transmis- sion of coal to the markets, and resulted in hardship to many people who were dependent upon that industry for a livelihood. The rebel- lion continued for three weeks, during which time the shipping of coal was at a standstill. The production of coal from the Schuylkill district
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in 1836 aggregated 448,995 tons. This was produced under a fluctuat- ing market and many unreasonable exactions from the miners and boatmen.
In the autumn of 1837, Col. John M. Crossland made a successful experiment in landing a boat load of Schuylkill county coal in New York, passing over the Schuylkill navigation and the Delaware and Raritan canal. This was followed the next year by the construction of a fleet of boats designed especially for direct trade with New York.
As early as 1833 efforts were made to secure legislative co-opera- tion in establishing a corporation with monopolistic features. The peo- ple very promptly set the seal of disapproval upon the movement, though it was presented in various forms, and under different titles, at each succeeding meeting of the assembly, until it was finally success- ful. The title of the bill of incorporation which passed both houses was that which brought the Offerman Mining company into existence. On reaching the governor it was promptly vetoed, but was passed over the veto. This was done in opposition to the expressed wishes of two thousand people in the mining districts of the county, and whose signed remonstrance was before the legislature. Though bearing the appear- ance of legal sanction, the charter never became operative under the title bestowed upon it, and lay dormant until resurrected at a future day and under a different form.
The first furnace established in the United States for the smelting of iron ore with anthracite coal was the Pioneer furnace at Pottsville. This was followed by many others as soon as the experimental stage was passed, and the line of navigation along the Schuylkill and Lehigh rivers became the source of great demand for the product of the mines. Within ten years after the Pioneer was put in blast in 1839, 30,290 tons of anthracite coal were used for smelting purposes. During the suc- ceeding twenty-five years, these figures were increased to almost 2,000,000 tons.
The first twenty years of production in all of the anthracite fields yielded an aggregate of 5,723,997 tons, of which the Schuylkill region produced 3,346,413 tons, or 58 per cent. It surpassed all the other fields in internal development, in population, in all industrial and trade pur- suits, and in every indication of prosperity. Having the advantage in distance to tide-water, in the accessibility of its coal-fields, and facilities for opening and developing them, besides the generous "free-to-all" policy, it is not strange that the record appears thus gratifying.
Some Statistics: At a public meeting held in Pottsville, January 3Ist, 1842, by persons engaged in the coal trade in Schuylkill county,
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the following interesting statistics relating to the cost of public im- provements dependent upon the coal operations of that district, to- gether with the value of real and personal property, was presented for consideration ; 65 miles of incorporated railroads, $650,000; 40 miles individual railroads, $90,000; 40 miles of individual railroads under ground, $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 landings at shipping ports, $16,000; 850 boats, $425,000 ; 900 boat horses, $54,000; 80,000 acres coal lands 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 & Reading railroad, cars, etc., $5,000,000 ; Danville & Pottsville railroad, $800,000. Total, $17,526,000. The population then engaged in or wholly dependent upon the coal trade, was 17,000; the number of horses employed in boating and at the collieries, was 2,100; agricultural products annually consumed, $588,000; merchandise annually con- sumed, $918,325. The market created in the coal region for the prod- uct of the farmer more than doubled the value of the farms in this county, and greatly enhanced the value of farm lands in some portions of adjoining counties. The Philadelphia & Reading railroad was opened to Pottsville in January, 1842, and this avenue of transporta- tion was welcomed with a public demonstration worthy of the occa- sion. The Schuylkill navigation had served the people for many years, being the pioneer public improvement in the line of transportation, but the trade had outgrown its capacity, and another outlet to the seaboard was a crying necessity. This was amply supplied in the opening of this thoroughfare. The immediate effect of this new avenue of traffic was a liberal reduction in the freight rates, and the inauguration of a busi- ness rivalry between the two lines of communication with tide water localities. But the reduction of rates prompted a reduction in the price of coal, and no one profited thereby except the consumers. Wages were reduced to correspond with the low price of the product, and a general demoralization of the trade resulted. Miners received the miserable pittance of $5.25 per week, payable in merchandise, while the laborers received a dollar less, and were paid with "store orders" which in themselves represented a profit to the companies issuing them, at the expense of the holders. This was the most disastrous year to the coal operator since the beginning of the business, and his employes suffered in corresponding degree.
The work of reconstructing the coal railroads was pushed rapidly
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forward after the opening of the steam railroad, and the Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven was the first of these to be put in proper condition as to strength and gauge for the passage of the cars of the Philadelphia & Reading railroad. On the 3rd of March, 1842, eighteen cars loaded with coal from the mines of Gideon Bast, on Wolff creek, beyond Minersville, were forwarded by rail to Philadelphia. On the 17th of May, following, the Philadelphia & Reading was open for transporta- tion to the wharves at Port Richmond, and four days later, the first train, comprising fifty cars, and one hundred and fifty tons of coal, left Schuylkill Haven at four o'clock in the morning and discharged its load into a vessel at Port Richmond the same evening.
The first method of breaking coal was as crude as the other opera- tions about the mines. It was broken on the pile with hammers, after which it was shoveled into a revolving screen to remove the dirt, and was again shoveled into the wheel-barrows, taken to the car and loaded. The coal was then hauled to the landings in wagons, or later, on the horse-railroads, and again dumped on the wharf where it was screened and assorted into piles of the various sizes required by the market. It was now ready to be wheeled aboard the boat. The first attempts to break coal by machinery were futile, according to the experience of two Pottsville men who abandoned the effort. In 1844 Joseph Batten of Philadelphia secured a patent on a machine coal breaker, and erected one as an experiment at the colliery of Gideon Bast, near Minersville. This proved so satisfactory that machines of this pattern were soon generally introduced into the coal regions. This machine, throughout its various complications, performs all the labor above mentioned, in the preparation of coal for the market, with mechanical precision and great speed, its capacity being regulated by the demands upon it. Steam engines of from fifteen to forty horse-power were required to operate the breaker. Strikes (which will be treated of in a separate article), disastrous floods and a varying market, tended to depress the coal trade, and during the ten years ending with 1849, there were but four years of prosperity in the Schuylkill coal traffic. Then the bug- bear of "over-production" was kept in the fore-ground by speculators who sought to control prices, and the small dealers were sorely pressed to meet their obligations. In 1850 came the great flood which damaged the canal and suspended shipping operations for several weeks. This public disaster was viewed by some of the operators as a Providential interference in their behalf, in that it paved the way to a restriction of the supply, and changed the aspect of the trade. Scarcely had traffic resumed on the canal when another flood came (1852), more disas-
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trous than the preceding one, and appalling in its effects. The presi- dent of the Schuylkill Navigation company characterized this as "a flood with which nothing that has heretofore occurred in the valley of the Schuylkill within the memory of man, can be compared." In the great elevation of the waters, in the destruction of life and property, and indeed in all its accompaniments, no living witnesses have seen its parallel. The most stable buildings were compelled to yield to the fury of the raging waters, and the very foundations of the moun- tans in many places were actually swept out." The Tumbling run res- ervoir, with its 23,000,000 cubic feet of water, went out with the flood and added to the general devastation in the valley.
In 1853 the coal lands worked were owned by six corporations and about sixty individuals, twenty-five of whom resided in Schuylkill county, and the remainder were non-residents. The coal royalty in the region averaged about thirty cents per ton, and the income to land owners, for rents was about $800,000. The latter part of the year 1853 witnessed a favorable revulsion in the coal trade, prices going upward and the demand increasing. This condition continued throughout the succeeding year, and 1854 was characterized as "the good year."
In October of this year occurred the presentation of a silver tea serv- ice to Enoch W. McGinnis, in recognition of his efforts in establishing the fact that the great white ash coal veins of the Mine hill and Broad mountain fields ran under the red ash series of the Schuylkill basin. Mr. McGinnis co-operated with the Carey and Patterson enterprise at St. Clair, as previously noted. The Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven railroad was extended to Ashland, in the great Mahanoy coal fields during the year 1854. This was the first practicable route established into that promising field. Its coming had been anticipated, and many houses had been erected and a considerable population had centered about Ashland and vicinity. Fluctuating prices and uncertain market continued to embarrass the coal trade, and in 1858 this disastrous con- dition was seriously augmented by continual labor troubles, not in all cases without an apparent cause. Wages were necessarily depressed because of the marked conditions, and the case with which the cry of "over-production" could be aroused.
The beginning of the Civil War had a depressing influence upon the trade, owing, partly, to the many enlistments among the miners and laborers, but also because of the general depression in business, the prostration of the iron trade and consequent reduction of consumption. With the progress of the war these conditions were relieved, in a
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measure, by the Government use of anthracite in the manufacture of war material, and for other purposes.
On the 4th of June, 1862, another devastating flood paralyzed the shipping facilities by reason of which the annual supply was greatly reduced, and a consequent upward tendency of prices stimulated busi- ness. Labor troubles continued, involving not only the miners and laborers about the mines, but the boatmen and train crews on the rail- roads. As an offset to the demonstration of the striking engineers and firemen, the Government seized the Reading railroad and its branches and supplied operatives from Washington. But after two weeks of de- lay, the old hands returned to their places.
With the constant upward tendency of prices, due to the expansion of the currency, the miners, though receiving the highest wages ever paid, demanded still more, and through the evil influences of unscrup- ulous agitators, and evil disposed persons, the coal regions were rendered hideous by violence and outrages, and murders of operators and bosses and others were frequent. A reign of terror prevailed in the coal region which was not under lawful control for a number of years. An organization known as the "Mollie Maguires" (see chapter on "Strikes") sprang into existence, and inaugurated a career of in- timidation, cruelty and unprovoked murder without a parallel in the history of the country.
With the expansion of 1863 came greatly increased demands for coal lands, much of which was bought and sold with speculative in- tent. Fortunes were made and lost in a day. These years were notable for the large fortunes suddenly acquired by the sale of collieries, and for the profits made in mining operations.
The close of the Civil War brought a revulsion in the coal trade, as in every other commercial product, and additional trouble ensued in establishing wages on the basis of a general reduction in the price of coal. A strike for an eight hour day was precipitated, which continued about two months, during which time most of the collieries were idle, the men who were disposed to work-being driven away by raiding parties of strikers.
The Workingmen's Benevolent Association was organized July 23d, 1868, and was succeeded by the Miners' Union of today as any organ- ization among the miners and workingmen at and around the mines for their mutual benefit and protection. Early in 1869 the executive committee of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association ordered a gen- eral strike which was prolonged for four months, but without accom- plishing the object for which it was declared.
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The anthracite board of trade for the Schuylkill coal region was organized on the 19th of November, 1869, with William Kendrick as president. It represented large holdings of coal mining or operators' interests, and was thereafter to negotiate all dealings with the work- men. During the year 1870, mining operations were again suspended for a period of four months, while the question of a wage scale was under consideration. The Philadelphia & Reading railroad company leased the Schuylkill Navigation company's canal on the 12th of July, 1870, and thereafter controlled it.
The Philadelphia Coal and Iron company was organized soon after the lease of the canal, and during the year purchased seventy thous- and acres of coal lands in Schuylkill county. "The result of this ac- tion has been to secure-and attach to the company's railroad-a body of coal land capable of supplying all the coal tonnage that can possibly be transported over the road for centuries." In 1873 this corporation engaged in the retail coal business in the city of Philadelphia, having established yards and depositories of large capacity. A general reduc- tion of wages was decided upon in 1875, rendered necessary by the universal shrinkage of all values since the financial crisis of 1873. This naturally met with obstinate opposition from the wage earners and precipitated what is known as the "long strike." This inaugurated another reign of terror, well-remembered by the middle-aged people of today; which contest between labor and capital continued during a period of six months, accompanied also to some extent by deeds of violence and bloodshed. The dominant power on the part of the miners was an organization known as the Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent association which acted for the miners. The strike closed disastrously to the strikers, and work was resumed without material change in the conditions of which they complained. The period of idle- ness had been an advantage to the operators, in that the surplus accumu- lations arising from a depressed market during the preceding year, had been absorbed by the sluggish trade, and a lively demand for coal now existed. With the increased facilities at hand, this demand was soon supplied, and by the close of navigation in 1875, the market was fully stocked, and the wharves at Port Richmond and all other depositories were overflowing with surplus coal. The sluggish market of 1876 dis- rupted the Associated Coal companies, an organization effected to con- trol prices and manipulate sales ; and thereafter each individual repre- sented his own interests in the open market. This process resulted in disaster, as sales were made according to the necessities of the indi- vidual, without regard to the cost of production. The producers were
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so dissatisfied with the "free competition of 1877," that another combi- nation was formed in January, 1878, for the control of the trade of that year. The immediate effect was to advance prices fifty cents a ton, and it was decided to reduce the production during the winter months by suspension of work at the collieries. The coal tonnage of the several interests was arranged by allotment, and the progress of the business was established on a systematic basis. But the trade being very dull, the association of coal companies was unable to secure a sufficiently in- creased price to compensate for the great restriction in production, hence the anticipation of profits to result from the combination was not realized. It would be interesting to trace the progress of the coal development throughout its wonderful history and phenomenal growth, yet it is doubtful if the average reader is interested beyond the record of early development, with which he is not familiar.
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