104 



COAL. 



The most extensive and valuable coal-mines 

 in America are in Pennsylvania. The coal- 

 fields cover an area of 12,744 square miles, in- 

 cluding the anthracite basin, of 470 square 

 miles, in Eastern Pennsylvania. Of the 66 

 counties of the State, 24 in the southeast part, 

 and Erie in the northwest, contain no coal. The 

 anthracite beds are chiefly in Dauphin, Schuyl- 

 kill, Carbon, and Luzerne Counties, and ex- 

 tend into Northumberland and Columbia Coun- 

 ties. Semi-anthracite coal is found in Dauphin, 

 Sullivan, and Wyoming Counties. Bradford, 

 Lycoming, Tioga, Huntingdon, Bedford, and 

 Fulton, contain detached fields of semi-bitu- 

 minous coal. Forty-one counties in the north 

 and northwest produce bituminous coal. In 

 Mercer County, on the west border of the 

 State, are deposits of the most valuable coal 

 in the United States. It is a species of semi- 

 cannel coal, .with a slaty structure, and a dull, 

 jet-black lustre, with a thickness of from 3 to 

 4 feet. It is known as block coal, and is spe- 

 cially adapted to the smelting of iron. The an- 

 nual production is about 500,000 tons. 



The production of anthracite coal in Penn- 

 sylvania since 1860 has been as follows : 



YEARS. Tons of 2,240 Ibl. | YEARS. Tom of 2,840 It* 



1860 9,808,118 ' 1869 16,875,678 



1861 9,147,46111870 17,819,700 



1S62 9,095,031 1871 17,379,355 



1863 10,953,077 1872 22,084,08* 



1864 :. 11,631,400 



1865 10,783,032 



1866 14,092,837 



1867 14,345,644 



1873 22,880,92! 



1874 21,667,8St 



1875 20,643,509 



1868 15,810,466 1877 



1876 *19,000,(HK> 



*21,323,000 



The production of 1877 was mined in the 

 following regions: Wyoming region (Luzerne 

 County), 8,300,000 tons; Lehigh region (Carbon, 

 Columbia, and Luzerne Counties), 4,400,000 

 tons ; Schuylkill region (Schuylkill, Northum- 

 berland, Columbia, Dauphin, and Lebanon 

 Counties), 8,600,000 tons; and Loyalsock 

 region (Sullivan County), 23,000 tons. 



The amount of anthracite produced in Penn- 

 sylvania prior to 1820 was about 18,000 tons. 

 The aggregate production since that year 

 amounts to 381,887,832 tons, including 151,- 

 475,872 tons mined in the Wyoming region, 

 72,422,227 in the Lehigh, 157,776,236 in the 

 Schuylkill, and 213,497 in the Loyalsock. 



The coal production of the United States in 

 recent years lias been as follows, in tons of 

 2,240 Ibs. : 



In reviewing the anthracite trade for 1877, 

 the authority above quoted remarks that the 

 low prices which ruled throughout the year 

 increased the consumption of anthracite more 

 than 2,000,000 tons, and that a continuance of 

 low-prices will create a demand for between 

 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 tons more in 1878 

 than was consumed in 1877. This would in- 

 crease the production to between 23,000,000 

 and 24,000,000 tons, which is nearly the full 



capacity of the mines in their present condi- 

 tion. 



The winter of 1876-'77 was a very severe 

 one, and large quantities of coal were con- 

 sumed despite the great economy practised. 

 During the early part of the year shipments 

 were much interfered with by the great accu- 

 mulation of ice at the several ports. In De- 

 cember, 1876, the Philadelphia Railroad Com- 

 * Approximate. 



