HOCKING VALLEY COAL FIELD 925 
unequal, but the product of the entire field ranks high. ‘The coal of 
Sunday Creek, Shawnee and Straitsville, when skillfully mined, is 
scarcely surpassed in strength by the famous block coal of the Mahon- 
ing Valley. While other portions of the field fall below this standard 
to a certain extent, the coal that they furnish is at least equal in 
strength to any other Ohio coal. 
The coal is everywhere mined by undercutting and blasting. The 
“bearing in” is done in the bottom bench of the seam, which is 
the best part of the coal in several respects. The cost of powder 
ranges between 3 and 4 cents per ton of coal. 
The coal is universally prepared for market by screening. The 
standard that is generally recognized for the screens is 12x6 feet, with 
14 inches between bars. ‘The bars are either steel or iron, and are 
generally 4-inch to ¢-inch wide on the upper surface. 
One-third of the coal sent out by the miner passes through a 
screen of these dimensions.. Of this third, somewhat less than half is 
slack, which has hitherto been mainly lost. The balance is unequally 
divided between nut and pea coal, when the latter grade is made. 
If the pea coal is not separated, the slack is increased to this extent. 
The nut coal is counted about half the value of the lump coal at the 
mine. The pea coal does little more than pay for handling. Reduced 
to percentages, the several grades appear as follows: 
IERBUTAYD) GOK es60606009 005660000966005 068609600600000000000000600305000000 66% 
INFINE. CORN A bososdecs Sands Occ COR GBCOSD ROO GoSCAOS BEE OOS ER EEE AR EERIE 10 to 20% 
PR CARC Oa leche eoec cho csereciaccBoesasoceescncsslesccacsesesnestssecsecles 5 to 15% } 33% 
SIAC keener eee erties tichidasrc ce tatise ceeeohides cde tontenar ee ecseteeteetaes 9 to 25% 
By recently introduced elevators, the Ohio Central Coal Company 
has brought down the percentage of slack to between 9 and 10 per 
cent. of what the miner sends out. 
The extreme regularity of the coal, the excellent roof that covers 
it, the fact that the mines are, in so large a part of the field, level free 
or hill mines, all these facts reduce the demand for skill in mining to 
somewhat lower terms than elsewhere. At least, mining can be done 
here with a smaller amount of training and experience than in many 
districts. 
The summer mining rate at present is 70 cents per ton, and the 
winter rate 80 cente. With full working days, the miner will be paid 
better at these rates than elsewhere in the State, his daily earnings 
ranging from $3.00 to $5.00, and sometimes rising to $7.00 or $8.00, but, 
