Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.djvu/55

COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES two counties were in operation the annual production was an average of 20,000 tons. For each ton of pig iron were required 3.25 tons of ore, 2.05 tons of coal and 1.59 tons of limestone.

COAL MINING

Practically all the anthracite coal produced in the world comes from an area of 484 square miles in northeastern Pennsylvania. In this region 87 per cent of the total acreage of coal lands is owned by eleven railroad corporations. The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company controls 63 per cent of all the anthracite coal in the United States, and more than half of the mines in Columbia county. These railroads own the mines, the rails and rolling stock, the yards and pockets in the cities, operate the wholesaling companies and control the retailers. Thus they fix the price of coal to the consumer.

The cost of mining a ton of coal in the Schuylkill region is $1.80. The roads owning the mines charge $1.50 a ton freight for household sizes of coal transported to tidewater. This is 30 per cent more than the rate for general merchandise. Coal at the mine mouth is $3.75 per ton. The freight charge is $1.50; the railroad's wholesaling branch chaises twenty-five cents for handling, and the retailer adds $1.25 more, making the cost of a ton of coal to the householder $6.75 in New York. The United States government owns and operates a coal mine at Willlston, N. Dak., where the cost of mining a ton is $1.78. This includes all charges except transportation.

Although within the coal region of the eastern part of Pennsylvania, Columbia county has few mines of that precious mineral. These arc located in Beaver and Conyngham townships, the latter being the only ones profitably worked.

There is a great difference in the soft and hard coal mining regions. In the former the beds tic tow down in the strata and are regular in character and easily mined. But anthracite coal beds are contorted, turned over and jammed into strange and irregular forms. Squeezed by enormous pressure in past ages, they disappear in one spot only to expandinto thick layers in another. Thcy plunge to a depth of two thousand feet in one place below water level, and in a short distance rise more than a thousand feet above (he sea. In the Pottsville region, of which Columbia beds arc a part, the coal lies in long, narrow basins under the valleys of the streams, the edges of which rise to the tops of the mountains and the centers sink several hundred feet below the surface.

Most of the mining is done by "stripping" off the upper layers of conglomerate rock which are characteristic of the hard coal regions, and as the stratum of coal sinks slopes are run in the same direction until the bottom of the basin is reached. The coal is hauled to the “breakers” and there broken, sorted and freed from slate. Vast piles of refuse or “culm” have accumulated in years around these breakers and render the scene gloomy and desolate.

Coal was discovered in Beaver township in 1826, but not till 1854 was any attempt made lo mine it. The Columbia Coal & Iron Company was formed in 1864 by Simon P. Kase. of Danville, and a railroad built to McCauley mountain. In 1867 shipments of the coal began and in 1869 the mines were exhausted and the railroad removed. The mines are now operated by the Beaver Valley Coal Company, and produced 4,000 tons in 1913. None of the companies here have ever made more than bare operating expenses. as the coal is on the extreme tops of McCauley and Buck mountains. in shallow strata and difficulty of access.

The mines in Conyngham were opened between 1854 and 1867. Most of them are located on the lands of the Girard estate and leased by the Reading and Lehigh Valley Railroad Companies. The principal mines now open are the Continental and Rcpellier collieries at Centralia; the Midvalley collieries at Aristes; and the Morris Ridge and North Ashland collieries, below Centralia.

According to the figures published by the State Geological Commission in 1882 the total production of the mines then in operation in Columbia county was 722,114 tons. Following are the names of the mines, location and operators:

SametI.eeationtOperator—iSSetTone BasttBt$ Mine runtP. & R. Coal & Iron Cot 90,161 Potts tI/KuMdate tP. & R. Coal & Iron Cot ilazel DelltCentraliatI.. A. Riley & Cot 7.638 ConiinentaltCentraliat!.ehiBh Valley Coal Cot 16,w Monroe tMontana tA. IL Churcht 35.oM I.ofcantCentralia tLA. Rjley & Cot231.1(9 Centralia tCentralia tL. A. Riley & Cot 88,363 Rear GtytCentralia tJohn Q. Williamst 2900 Morris RidgetCentralia tMay & Cot 55.490 North AshlandtCentralia tP. & R. Coal & Iron Cotill,oj6