348 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
4 feet, the miner is paid 5 cents additional, until the coal seam recedes 
to 2 feet, no coal being mined, except in rare cases, below this thick- | 
ness. 
The cost of opening and equipping a mine in this coal region often 
exceeds $20,000, but if the coal proves of good quality, as is usually the 
case, the money is soon refunded. The mines had been very profitable— 
more profitable than those of any other region in Ohio, owing partly to 
the proximity of the coal field to Cleveland ‘and Lake Erie, but largely 
to the superior quality of the coal, which is of unequalled excellence. 
The better paying mines have frequently cleared for their owners, after all 
expenses are paid, including interest on capital invested, and wear and 
tear of machinery, from 75 cents to $1.00 per ton. Not all enterprises 
pay this well, however, and some of them are losing concerns resulting 
from a variety of causes, as, for example, the inferior quality and limited 
quantity of the coal, or the too abundant flow of water, etc. The mine 
of the Leadville Coal Company, situated 3 miles west of Youngstown, 
is an instance of this latter kind. 
The history of this mine is so remarkable, that a brief sketch of it 
may not be out of place. The work of sinking this shaft was one of 
the most difficult and costly undertakings ever encountered in the 
United States, mainly by reason of the flow of water. The time occu- 
pied in sinking, including several long stoppages, was about two years 
and six months. The shaft was first let by contract to a party of four 
miners, at twenty dollars a foot, the company (Messrs. Wicks and Wells) 
agreeing to furnish pumping machinery for the discharge of water. 
The sinkers only succeeded in getting down to the solid material, when, 
finding it was impossible to complete the work for the price, with every- 
thing in their favor, they threw up their contract. A second party 
undertook the work at thirty-five dollars a foot, but also gave it up 
after a trial of three weeks. A third party took it at fifty dollars a 
foot, which was a fair price for work of this character on good ground. 
This party, strongly impressed with the necessity of having the water 
“under absolute control at all times, sunk a seven-inch drill-hole in one 
corner of the pit, down to the coal, into which they introduced the: 
suction pump of a No. 6 Cameron steam-pump, suspending the pump in 
the shaft, and lowering it as the sinking progressed. This arrangement 
worked very well; but the rock was very difficult to blast ; the sides of 
the shaft were hard to dress, and the undertaking was a loss from the 
