ANTHRACITE COAL-FIELDS. 



307 



least 12,000,000 tons of exdellent fuel. When we 

 consider that this is the most circumscribed of at 

 least three distinct ranges of coal which make up 

 the anthracite region of Pennsylvania, and that it is 

 disproportionably smaller than the other coal-fields, 

 we cannot fail to be impressed with amazement at 

 the stupendous scale in which these formations pre- 

 sent themselves. 



The principal anthracite coal-fields of Pennsylva- 

 nia, then, are three in number, averaging 65 miles 

 in length and three in width. The first, or south- 

 ern, or Schuylkill field, includes the Lehigh, Little 

 Schuylkill, Schuylkill, Swatara, and Dauphin dis- 

 tricts. The second comprises the Beaver Meadow, 

 Shamokin, and Mahonoy districts. The third, or 

 northern, includes the Lackawanna and Wilkesbarre, 

 or Susquehanna districts. Each of these fields 

 forms a long elliptical basin, with a well-defined bor- 

 der of red shale, and surrounded by a barrier of 

 long and sharp mountain ridges. Two of these 

 fields, the first and the second, run side by side, 

 ranging a little north of east ; the remaining one is 

 somewhat apart from them, and has a more north- 

 erly direction.* 



Of the above-mentioned districts, the most im- 

 portant at the present time are the Schuylkill, 

 Lehigh, Beaver Meadow, and Lackawanna. The 

 Shamokin District is just opening, and will soon take 

 a station among the first in the quality of its coal 

 and extent of its products. The first field is remark- 

 able from its containing red-ash coal, which is sup- 

 pose'd to exist in none of the others to any extent. 

 This coal is easily ignited, burns freely, and its re- 

 siduum is more ponderous than that of the white-ash. 

 It occupies nearly two thirds of this field. The 

 white-ash produces a more intense heat, and leaves 

 less residuum than the red-ash. It is free from 



* Packer's Report to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, on the 

 Coal Trade. 



