THE TRINIDAD COAL MINES. 215 
is considerably less than that of the last item mentioned, we have an evaporative 
efficiency of about 225 per cent as compared with the last item, so that if the 
lignite coal cost $4 a ton, the semi-bituminous coal would be cheaper at $9 a ton 
for the quantity of water evaporated, which is the true and only actual measure 
of value m a ton of coal. So far as we know, no individual experiment was ever 
tried to demonstrate the particular factor, and men buy coal just as they buy 
nails or sand — so much a load or so much a ton — thinking, perhaps, that bitu- 
minous coal at one price is cheaper than anthracite at another, while if the various 
brands of coal in the market should be carefully and honestly tested, it might be 
found that certain grades of anthracite coal at $7 a ton were cheaper than anoth- 
er grade of anthracite coal at $5 a ton if anything short of bulk lor bulk was to. 
be considered. These experiments are very valuable if steam users will only 
heed them. — Cotton^ Wool and Iron. 
THE TRINIDAD COAL MINES. 
ISAAC T. GOODNOW. 
We were now coming east, on a beautiful afternoon, just in the right mood 
for enjoying the scenery. The railroad very nearly follows the old Santa Fe trail 
and also the present well traveled wagon-road over the Raton Mountains whose 
fantastic peaks tower right and left to the skies, with openings occasionally to the 
north that enable us to see, low down in the horizon, the famous Spanish Peaks 
one hundred miles away, a. wonderful demonstration of the purity of the atmos- 
phere. Just before leaving New Mexico, the train suddenly plunges into a tunnel 
2100 feet under the highest crest of the Raton Pass, and on emerging we find 
ourselves inhaling the pure air and enjoying the bright mellow sunshine of a 
Colorado day. The highest point of the Raton Pass is 7861 feet, and of the 
tunnel 7688 feet, a height of 173 feet saved by the tunnel. On leaving this we 
pass the Devil's Canon, and in five miles reach the foot of the pass at the little 
station of Morley \ farther on four miles we find Starkville, a sort of suburb to 
Trinidad, and the site of a remarkable coal mine, stopping an hour and a half to 
examine it. 
The veins of coal are horizontal, and from nine to fourteen feet thick- no 
finer bituminous coal can be found. This mine has been worked steadily one 
and a half years, and yields three hundred tons a day, and ninety tons of coke. 
This is made by heating the coal in ovens to a red heat, and driving off the 
water and gases. One hundred pounds of coal will make fifty-five pounds of 
coke, which is nearly pure carbon. Forty-two ovens are in operation here- one 
hundred and fifty-five men are employed, nine hours constituting a day's work. 
Laborers outside are paid $2 per day; inside, $3; for mining coal, sixty cents per 
ton is paid. The laborers are Americans, Swedes, ItaHans, and Mexicans. We 
entered the mine on the east side of the mountain by a tunnel six to eight feet 
