Excerpts from: Munsell, W. W., History
Of Schuylkill County, Pa, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, W. W. Munsell &
Co., 36 Vesey Street N.Y., 1881.
Chapter V. Coal
Philadelphia And Reading Railroad
Chapter XI. Railroad System
MunsellÕs Map
Click here for large scale Schuylkill
County Map
Chapter V
DEVELOPMENT OF THE
COAL PRODUCTION
AND
TRADE IN SCHUYLKILL
COUNTY.
By P.D. Luther.
pp. 41 - 72
In
the year 1749 the proprietaries of Pennsylvania obtained from the Indians, for the
sum of £500, their title to the lands between Mahanoy creek, on the east side
of the Susquehanna river, and the Delaware river north of the Blue mountain;
embracing in whole or in part the counties of Dauphin, Schuylkill,
Northumberland, Columbia, Luzerne, Monroe, Carbon and Pike. The space
comprehends the lands between the Blue or Kittatinny mountain range to the
south, the Susquehanna river to the west, and a line drawn from the point of
the mountain at the mouth of Mahanoy creek to the mouth of Lackawaxen creek, at
the New York State boundary, and at the junction of that creek with the
Delaware river: being one hundred and twenty-five miles long and thirty miles
in average breadth.Within this territory of 3,750 square miles is comprehended
the entire group of anthracite basins, usually styled the southern and middle
coal fields.
In
his work on "Statistics of Coal," R.C. Taylor gives the following
eloquent description of the great depositories of anthracite coal in
Pennsylvania:
"The
physical features of the anthracite country are wild; its aspect forbidding;
its surface broken, sterile, and apparently irreclaimable. Its area exhibits an
extraordinary series of parallel ridges and deep intervening troughs.The groups
of elongated hills and valleys consist of a number of axes, all or nearly all
of which range in exact conformity to the base of the Alleghany Mountains. When
viewed from the latter, they bear a striking resemblance to those long rolling
lines of surf, wave behind wave in long succession, which break upon a flat
shore. In the year 1748 a large portion of this region had received upon the
maps the not unapt title of the wilderness of St. Anthony. Three-fourths of a
century after, when the greater part of this area was still in stony solitude-when
this petrified ocean, whose waves were sixty-five miles long and more than a
thousand feet high, remained almost unexplored-a few tons of an unknown
combustible were brought to Philadelphia, where its qualities were to be tested
and its value ascertained."
The
wheels of time revolve unceasingly in their course, events multiply rapidly,
the expectation of to-day becomes the commonplace reality of to-morrow; and so
the period arrived when the "stony solitude" of the wilderness of St.
Anthony was to be aroused from its lethargy, and the treasure embedded in its
hills utilized in the cause of civilization, commercial and manufacturing
progress, and the wants of an increasing population.The birth of a great
productive industry may be dated from the year 1829, when 365 tons of
anthracite were sent to Philadelphia from the headwaters of the Lehigh River.
From that time the capitalists with their millions and the miners with their
implements of toil penetrated the wilderness; canals and railroads were built,
furnishing transportation for the "unknown combustible" to the
markets on the seaboard; colliery after colliery was established; until in the
year 1847, Mr. Taylor says, the "surprising amount of three millions of
tons of anthracite was mined, or an aggregate of nearly nineteen millions of
tons within a quarter of a century, and 11,439 vessels cleared from the single
port of Philadelphia, loaded with a million and a quarter of tons for the
service of the neighboring States." A quarter of a century later, in the
year 1872, the three millions of tons production which had astonished Mr.
Taylor had been increased to nineteen millions of tons annual production, and
an aggregate of two hundred and thirty-seven millions of tons in half a
century. The development of the coal fields continues with unabated vigor; the
volume of the trade continues to expand; railroads above and below ground
ramify in every direction; the shriek of the locomotive and the roll of the
cars resound on every hillside and valley; the green slopes of a thousand hills
are blotted with the debris of the coal mines; the density of the population,
the growth of cities and villages, the large domestic trade and commerce, all
testify to the great importance and magnitude of an industry in which anthracite
sits enthroned.
FIRST SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO USE COAL.
Having
made these preliminary observations, we will now turn our attention exclusively
to the coal trade of Schuylkill county. The existence of anthracite coal in the
southern and middle coal fields must have been known or suspected prior to
1770.In Sculls map, published in that year, some localities are indicated,
especially about the headwaters of the Schuylkill, and stretching thence
westward to those of the Swartara. The first observation of anthracite coal in
Schuylkill County, of which we have particular record, was awarded to Nichol
Allen, a lumberman who lived on the Broad Mountain. Allen led a vagrant kind of
life, and in one of his expeditions, in the year 1790, he camped out over night
and built a fire among some rocks, under shelter of the trees. During the night
he felt an unusual degree of heat upon his extremities, and waking up he
observed amid the rocks a mass of glowing fire, he having accidentally ignited
the outcrop of a bed of coal. This was his first experience of stone coal. He
never profited by his discovery, and after having for a considerable time
advocated the value of anthracite, and of his important service to the region
in discovering it, without receiving substantial reward, he left the region in
disgust, for his native State in new England.
The
introduction of anthracite coal into general use as a fuel was attended with
great difficulty in Schuylkill County, as well as in the other coalfields. In
the year 1795 a blacksmith of the name of Whetstone used it successfully for
smithing purposes. In the year 1806 coal was found in cutting the tailrace of
the Valley Forge, on the Schuylkill, and was used successfully by Daniel
Berlin, a blacksmith, which led to its general use by the smiths in the
neighborhood. Its introduction for household purposes was only accomplished
after years of persistent and arduous labor. Its hardness and the difficulty of
igniting it, compared with wood, commonly used, involved all the prejudice and opposition
to novel appliances usual upon such occasion.The erroneous impression that it
required an artificial blast to produce combustion, the superabundance and
cheapness of wood throughout the country, the distance from the seaboard and
centers of population, and the entire want of transportation facilities to
market, made its introduction for many years entirely impracticable, except at
its places of deposit. Judge Fell first experimented with it in the Wyoming
region, using a common wooden grate in his efforts to produce combustion,
arguing that if he succeeded in burning up his wooden grate he would then be
warranted in making an iron one; which he afterward did, making the grate with
his own hands in his nephew's shop. This interesting and successful experiment
was made in 1808. The following memorandum was made by the judge at the
time:"February 11th, of Masonry 5808.-Made the experiment of burning the
common stone coal of the valley in a grate, in a common fire place in my house,
and find it will answer the purpose of fuel, making a clearer and better fire,
at less expense, than burning wood in the common way.
FIRST USE OF COAL IN A ROLLING MILL.
About
the year 1800 William Morris, the owner of a large tract of land near Port Carbon,
sent a wagon load of coal to Pennsylvania, but was unable to bring it into
public notice. Dissatisfied with the result, he sold his lands, and abandoned
mining operations.
The
first successful attempt to introduce anthracite coal in the Philadelphia
market was made in 1812, by Colonel George Shoemaker, subsequently the
proprietor and hose of the Pennsylvania Hall, in Pottsville, then as now one of
the principal hotels in the place. The colonel loaded nine wagons with coal
from his mines at Centreville, near Pottsville, and hauled them to Philadelphia
for a market; but the good people of that city denounced the colonel as a
swindler and impostor for attempting to impose "black rocks" upon
them for stone coal. The following extract from a report of the Board of Trade
of the Schuylkill County Coal Association, drawn up by Samuel Lewis, Esq., is
the most authentic account of the enterprise of Colonel Shoemaker that has come
down to us:
"In
the year 1812 our fellow citizen Colonel Shoemaker procured a quantity of coal
from a shaft sunk on a tract of land he had recently purchased, on the
Norwegian, and now owned by the North American Coal Company (1833) and known as
the Centreville tract.With this he loaded nine wagons and proceeded to
Philadelphia. Much time was spent by him in endeavoring to introduce it into
notice, but all his efforts proved unavailing. Those who deigned to try it
declared Colonel Shoemaker to be an impostor for attempting to impose stones on
them for coal, and were clamorous against him. Not discouraged by the sneers
and sarcasms cast upon him he persisted in the undertaking, and at least
succeeded in disposing of two loads for the cost of transportation, and the
remaining seven he gave to persons who promised to try to use it, and lost all
the coal and the 0charges on the seven loads. Messrs. Mellon & Bishop, at
the earnest solicitation of Colonel Shoemaker, were induced to make a trial of
it on their rolling mill in Delaware county; and finding it to answer fully the
character given it by him, noticed its usefulness in the Philadelphia papers.
"At
the reading of this report Colonel Shoemaker was present by invitation, who
fully confirmed the foregoing statement and furnished some additional
information, among which was that he was induced to make the venture of taking
the coal to Philadelphia from the success attending its use at Pottsville, both
in the blacksmiths' fire and for warming houses; and that he could not believe
that so useful an article was intended to always lie in the earth unnoticed and
unknown. That when he had induced Mr. Mellon to try the coal in the rolling
mill he (Shoemaker) accompanied the coal to the mill, arriving there in the
evening.The foreman of the mill pronounced the coal to be stones and not coal,
and that he was an impostor in seeking to palm off such stuff on is employer as
coal. As a fair trial of it by this man or the men under him could not be
expected it was arranged between Shoemaker and Mellon, who was a practical
workman, that workmen came. They accordingly repaired to the mill in the
morning, and kindled a fire in one of the furnaces with wood, on which they
placed the coal. After it began to ignite Mellon was inclined to use the poker,
against which Shoemaker cautioned him. They were shortly afterward called to
breakfast, previous to which Colonel Shoemaker had observed the blue blaze of
the kindling anthracite just breaking through the body of the coal, and then he
knew all was right if it were left alone, and he directed the men left in
charge not to use the poker or open the furnace door until their return. When
they returned they found the furnace in a perfect glow of white heat. The iron
was put in and heated in much less time than usual, and it passed through the
rolls with unusual facility, or, in the language of the workman, like lead.All,
employers as well as workmen, were perfectly satisfied with the experiment,
which was tried repeatedly and always with complete success; and to crown the
whole, the surly foreman acknowledged his error, and begged pardon of Colonel
Shoemaker for his rudeness the preceding evening".
Thus
Colonel Shoemaker had the honor of establishing the fact-a fact of incalculable
importance-that the "black rocks" of Schuylkill county were
combustible, and that as a fuel they were combustible into general use for
household purposes.This was very gradually accomplished, both because of the
abundant supply of wood and of the want of the proper appliances for the
combustion of coal. The invention and manufacture of grates and stoves adapted
to the purpose was the first requisite.
At
the time of the remarkable adventure of Colonel Shoemaker with his "black
rocks" in Philadelphia the mountainous region of the Schuylkill coalfield
had been only partially explored.Its sparse but hardly population depended in
great measure upon the game which abounded in the forest, and upon the sale of
lumber, for the supplies required for their necessities and comfort. The lumber
cut during the winter was formed into rafts, and sent down in the spring, when
the freshets made the river navigable. Before the completion of the Schuylkill
canal, in 1825, the products of the county were always sent to market by this
precarious and unreliable navigation.
SCHUYLKILL NAVIGATION
In
the year 1812 Messrs. White & Hazzard and other individuals made an
application to the Legislature of Pennsylvania for an act of incorporation to
improve the navigation of the Schuylkill river, upon which occasion the senator
from Schuylkill county rose in his place and said that there was no coal in
Schuylkill county; there was a kind of black stone that was called coal, but it
would not burn. In consequence of this observation the act of incorporation was
not granted at that time; but, notwithstanding the opinion of many people that
the project of making a canal into the wild, mountainous region of Schuylkill
was a chimerical scheme, the charter was granted in 1815, and the work finished
sufficiently by the year 1825 to accommodate the coal trade.The originators of
the project, with a few exceptions, did not count upon the coal trade to
promote the success of the undertaking.They looked forward mainly to the
agricultural products below the mountains, the lumber of Schuylkill county, and
the grain and other products of the counties bordering on the Susquehanna
river, for a tonnage that would ultimately afford dividends to the
stockholders. A division of trade from the north branch of the Susquehanna to
the headwaters of the Schuylkill was a favorite idea at that time. Stephen Girard
had that object in view when he promoted the construction of the Pottsville and
Danville Railroad, which was completed to Girardville-a gigantic enterprise for
those days, which only served the purpose of a public curiosity. Colonel Paxton
had the same object in view in his devoted advocacy of the Catawissa Railroad-a
road whose tortuous alignment through formidable mountain barriers and
stilt-like trestling over frightful chasms were the terror of all travelers.
The
first shipments of coal by canal were made in the year 1822, when 1,480 tons
were poled down the line, the towpath being yet unmade. In an address of the
managers in 1817, they predicted that the day would come in the history of the
Schuylkill Navigation Company when ten thousand tons of coal per annum would be
shipped by canal. So little idea had the most sagacious capitalists of that day
of the enormous future growth of the coal trade. In some of the early reports
of the presidents of the company we meet with statements possessing a curious
interest. For example, in the report of Cadwalader Evans in reference to the
operations of the year 1812 he says: "There have been completed on the
upper section of the river since the report of last year the tunnel and the
canals and locks at that time commenced, so that the navigation is now
completed from John Pott's, at the coal mines, to within half a mile of
Reading."Boats carrying eighteen tons traversed this part of the canal
during the fall, and transported "produced of the upper county and large quantities
of coal to the neighborhood of Hamburg, where it was deposited, and the coal
sold to the county people at and near that place." No toll was charged
during the fall, as the company wished "to encouraged experiments in this
novel kind of navigation."It appears that the worthy president of the
navigation company had no other designation for Pittsville than "John
Pott's, at the coal mines."The tunnel referred to was situated above Port
Clinton.The excavation of it was regarded as a prodigious undertaking, and it
was a great curiosity in its day.Many persons came by stagecoach or private
conveyance from Philadelphia and other places to see the great tunnel and to
witness the spectacle of the passage of boats under and through a mountain. The
wonder and admiration with which our ancestors regarded this work-so simple and
commonplace in our day-afford a striking elucidation of the great advancement
since then in civil engineering. This tunnel was the first driven in North
America.It was commenced about the year 1818, and was completed, as before
stated, in 1812. It was originally 450 feet in length, arched 75 feet from each
end. It was reduced in length and enlarged from time to time until at length,
in 1855-56, it was made a through cut.
The
capacity of the canal was gradually increased by deepening the channels, and by
other improvements, and the tonnage of the boats, which had been only eighteen
tons in 1825. In the year 1846 an enlargement and reconstruction of the canal
was accomplished, and the tonnage of the boats increased to 180 or 200 tons.
Incorporated
without mining or trading privileges, it was the interest of the Schuylkill
Navigation Company to invite tonnage from every available source. The canal was
designed for a grand avenue for the conveyance of the products of the mine, the
field and the forest, a free navigation to all who chose to participate in its
facilities. Entering the southern coalfield at its centre, it afforded an
outlet for most of its territory. The projectors of this valuable improvement
were the pioneers in inland navigation in this country, and to them is due the
credit of commencing works of this nature. Their enterprise contributed largely
to subdue the wilderness and to unfold the mineral treasure hidden in the wilds
of the Schuylkill coal region.
INFLUX OF OPERATORS AND SPECULATORS.
An
outlet having been provided by the Schuylkill Navigation Company for a regular
supply of anthracite coal, public attention was strongly attracted to the
southern anthracite coalfield. The developments already made in this region
being quite convincing as to the extent of the deposits, and its evident
advantages in regard to location and nearness to tide water conduced greatly to
this result. The disappearance of the forests in the vicinity of the large
towns, and the consequent appreciation in the price of wood-which in 1825 was
already more expensive than coal-crystallized public opinion in favor of the
long despised "black diamonds." The superiority of anthracite over
every other description of fuel was at length becoming demonstrated.Its great
convenience, and the cheerful, flowing warmth it imparted, secured a comfort to
the domestic fireside that had never been experienced before. Suitable
appliances for its combustion were gradually introduced into public and private
houses. Manufacturers were beginning to appreciate its superiority to
bituminous coal in power and economy. The fact was dimly dawning upon the minds
of the people that they were at the portals of a great and wonderful productive
industry an industry of super-eminent power and influence-which would
ameliorate the condition of mankind, prove a valuable accessory to all
mechanical and manufacturing operations, stimulate every branch of trade and
commerce, promote the prosperity of and diffuse inestimable benefits upon the
country generally.The apathy, the incredulity and the prejudice which had so
long dominated the minds of capitalists and consumers were gradually removed,
and golden visions of prospective fortunes captivated their imaginations.
A
few years after the inauguration of the Schuylkill coal trade (1825), when
anthracite was recognized in commerce as a staple article, the Schuylkill coal
region became the theatre of a wild spirit of speculation and adventure, somewhat
similar to the frenzy which prevailed in the oil regions not many years
since.There was a rush to Schuylkill County of a promiscuous crowd of
capitalists, adventurers and fortune hunters, who were inspired with the
delusive phantom of suddenly becoming millionaires in the new El Dorado. This
was the first speculative era (in 1829) of the Schuylkill coal trade.
Pottsville, the center of the movement, overflowed with strangers, for whom
there were very limited accommodations and lodging provided; a share of a bed
was a fortunate circumstance; a chair to repose in was a cause for
congratulation or envy; and, inasmuch as strangers had liberty to sleep on the
floor, there was a lively competition for the softest plank. A few provident
travelers, having special regard for their bodily comfort, carried their beds
on top of the stagecoach, ready for any emergency. The mirth their arrival
created while unloading at the hotel can be readily imagined.In this assemblage
of solid men and spirits there was not wanting a representation of the silk
glove gentry, with fast horses and dashing turnouts, who did not fail to
astonish the natives. City swells and sporting characters, whose profession
says, added to the demoralization of the place.
The mountains were scarified by pits and trial shafts sunk
by enthusiastic prospectors, traces of which yet remain. Having no knowledge of
the geology of the coal formation, they "went it blind," trusting to
chance; and many of them dug the graves of their sanguine hopes and their small
capitals in the vain search for anthracite.
RAPID GROWTH OF TOWNS AND APPRECIATION
OF COAL LANDS
After
such failures the mysterious disappearance of fast teams with their owners, without
the formality of paying their bills, was not an uncommon occurrence. Other and
more successful explorers revealed the existence of a great number of veins of
coal, extending over a vast stretch of county and abounding with a seemingly
inexhaustible quantity of the combustible. These discoveries fanned the flame
of excitement; lands were bought with avidity; roads were laid out in the
forest, mines were opened and railroads projected, and innumerable town plots
decorated the walls of public houses. The demand for houses was so great that
the lumber for quite a large number was framed in Philadelphia and sent by
canal to the coal region, ready for the joiner.The spectacle was presented of a
city coming up the canal in boats-a forest moving to make way for a thriving
town.Whole villages along the roadside thus sprung into existence like
mushrooms. The opportunities of promising land speculations were almost
unexampled, and many fortunes were made by shrewd and enterprising capitalists.
Tracts of land that had been offered for sale at twenty-five cents per acre,
and others which could have been bought a few years before for the taxes that
had been paid on them, advanced a thousand fold. Within a period of six months
from the beginning of the speculative movement-which continued with varied
activity for three years, culminating in 1828-29, nearly $5,000,000 had been
invested in the coal lands of Schuylkill county; yet so little appreciation had
the owners of the real value of these lands that some properties which had been
sold in 1827 for $500 were again sold in 1829 for $16,000.The Peacock tract,
belonging to the New York and Schuylkill Coal Company, bought in 1824 for
$9,000, was sold in 1829 for $42,000; a tract of 120 acres on the Broad
mountain, sold in 1829 for $12,000, was bought nine months before for $1,400;
one-fourth of another tract sold in 1829 for $9,000, the whole tract having
been purchased six years before for $190; a tract on the west branch, which
brought $700 was sold nine months afterward, in 1829, for $6,000. Another,
tract sold for $16,000, was bought nine months before for $1,000. These
transactions indicate the advance of the speculative movement, and the entire
ignorance of the property holders in early times of the intrinsic value of
their elands. It is questionable whether at any time during the excitement
elands were sold at more than their real value as an investment, except in
those instances where the purchasers incautiously selected barren tracts, or
through ignorance crossed the boundary line of the coal field and located in
the red shale. Speculators who invested at the comparatively high prices of
1829, with the view of a quick operation, were, many of them, caught two years
afterward in the first revulsion of the coal trade, and, not being able to hold
their properties, were obliged to sell them at a sacrifice.
PRIMITIVE MINING AND TRANSPORTATION
The
mining operations in the early days of the coal trade in the Schuylkill region
were conducted in the most primitive manner, all the arrangements being rude
and simple. The leases embraced a run on the outcrop or strike of the veins of
about fifty to one hundred yards, with an allowance of sufficient space on the
surface to handle the products of the mines.The plan first adopted was to sink
pits on an elevated position, from which the coal was hoisted in buckets, with
a common windlass, worked by hand; and when the water became too strong to be
hoisted, which occurred at a depth of thirty to forty feet, the pit was
abandoned and a new one started from the surface. The yield under this system
was very trifling and unsatisfactory, which led to the application of the gin
worked by horse power-generally a wheezy or decrepit animal, unfit for other
service-and it increased the product very much, being considered at the time a
great improvement; but as the shaft became deeper the water would increase in
volume, and eventually drown out the mine. The operators, although
inexperienced in mining, were intelligent, enterprising and energetic men, who
were not content to follow old ruts or beaten tracks. They soon discovered the
advantages of opening the veins from the ravines, at the foot of the hills, by
drifts.The leases were then made with longer runs, the water was removed by
natural drainage, and the pitch of the veins facilitated the mining and loading
of the coal. For a short time the coal was taken out of the mine in
wheelbarrows, and afterward railroads were laid in the gangways, and the coal
hauled out by horse or mule power. These changes effected a great economy in
the whole process until the coal was delivered outside of the mine.
The
contrivances on the surface for handling the coal were at the beginning of the
trade equally rude and simple with those of the mining department. The modern
appliances of breakers, machinery and steam engines did not exist at that time.
The pick, the hammer, the shovel, riddle and wheelbarrow were all the
implements in use. The removal of the dirt and slate from the coal was all the
preparation it was subjected to. The transportation to the wharves or landings
on the canal was made in the ordinary road wagons. This was a slow and very
expensive operation, the charge for hauling being about twenty-five cents a ton
per mile. In the year 1829 the production amounted to 79,973 tons, nearly all
of which was hauled in wagons over the common roads of the county. Taking one
week for an example-June 19-251,831 tons of coal were hauled through the
streets of Pottsville, over roads that had the aspect of rivers of slimy mud.
No wonder the introduction of railroads was hailed as a happy deliverance.
In
the year 1829 the following railroads from the shipping ports to the mines were
put under construction: The Schuylkill Valley Railroad, commencing at Port Carbon, the head of
navigation, and terminating at Tuscarora, a distance of ten miles, with fifteen
branch railroads intersecting it, the distances combined amounting to ten
miles. This road was in partial operation during the year 1829.
The
Mill Creek Railroad,
extending from Port Carbon up the valley of Mill creek four miles, with about
three miles of branch roads intersecting it. This was the first road completed
and was in operation part of the year 1829.
The
Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad, commencing at Schuylkill Haven and
terminating at Broad Mountain, having a length, including the west branch, of
fifteen miles. There were also about five miles of branches interesting it.
The
Mount Carbon Railroad,
commencing at Mount Carbon and extending up the east and west branches of the
Norwegian creek; length of road seven miles.
The
Little Schuylkill Railroad,
from Port Clinton to Tamaqua, twenty miles in length, was likewise projected
this year.
The
superstructure of all these roads was a wooden rail strapped with flat bar
iron.
The
Schuylkill Valley Railroad was completed on the 12th of July 1830. Soon
afterwards, as an experiment, twenty-one cars were loaded with coal by Aquilla
Bolton, the proprietor of the Belmont mines, about two miles above Port Carbon,
and hauled to the landing with great ease by three horses, the cars being under
perfect control of the brakes, so as to stop at the weigh scales and move on
again without assistance. It would have taken fifty horses to haul the same quantity
of coal over the common roads in wagons. In the year 1830 19,426 tons of coal
were passed over the road.
The
Mount Carbon Railroad was completed in the spring of 1831. Transportation commenced
on the 19th of April, on which day the interesting spectacle of a train of cars
loaded with anthracite was seen descending the road for the first time. The
coal with which the care were filled was mined by Samuel J. Potts from the
celebrated Spohn vein. This event ended the road wagon transportation of coal
through the town of Pottsville.
The
Little Schuylkill Railroad was completed a few weeks before the close of
navigation in 1831. On the 18th of November of that year the opening of the
road was celebrated at Tamaqua. A grand entertainment was given. On Monday,
March 11th, 1833, a novel and interesting spectacle was presented on the road.
A trial trip was made by a locomotive engine, running from Port Clinton to
Tamaqua. It excited considerable interest, as it was the first locomotive
introduced in Schuylkill County. The superstructure of the railroad was too
light for the engine, which spread the rails and ran into the river. It was
used afterward as a shifting engine at Tamaqua. It is said that the engine was
shipped from Liverpool to Philadelphia, where it was loaded on a wagon used for
hauling marble, and with sixteen horses hauled to Schuylkill County
.During
the progress of the coal trade the railroads noticed above had been greatly
extended, and after the completion of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
they were reconstructed, with a wider gauge and an iron rail.
It
is a notable circumstance that to Abraham Pott, a pioneer coal operator,
belongs the honor of having built the first railroad in Schuylkill County, in
Pennsylvania, and perhaps in the United States. A railroad which was about half
a mile in length, and extended from the junction of Mill creek and the
Schuylkill River to a point in the Black Valley, was built by him in 1826-27.It
had an entirely wooden superstructure, and was successfully operated. Mr. Pott
was the first to use drop bottom cars, with wheels fixed to the axles. He
erected a steam engine in 1829 to drive a saw-mill the first steam engine in
the county. To him belongs the credit of being the first to use anthracite coal
for the generation of steam for a steam engine.
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRADE
The
coal trade from 1825 to 1829 inclusive had been very encouraging to the
operators. All the coal that could be mined found a ready market at fair
prices. The following is a statement of the number of tons shipped from the
Schuylkill region during these years, with the price per ton obtained at
Pottsville: 1825, 6,5000, $3.08; 1826, 16,767, $2.80; 1827, 31,360, $2.80;
1828, 47,284, $2.52; 1829, 79,973, $2052.
This
result inspired a buoyant feeling among the producers at the beginning of the
year 1830 in contemplating the prospects of the trade for the ensuing season.
The market was in a healthy condition. The superiority of anthracite as a fuel
for domestic, for manufacturing and for steam generating purposes was gaining
recognition, and its popularity was enhanced with its introduction into more
general use. All the indications pointed to a greatly increased consumption in
the near future, and it seemed to warrant the preparation made to meet the
probable demand. The Schuylkill canal was in order for business on the first of
April. The coal operators were felicitating themselves upon their glorious
prospects. At no previous period had they indulged in greater expectations. The
turmoil of business resounded in the streets of Pottsville. Coal wagons, in a
continuous train, were conveying the treasure of the mines to the landings; the
wharves presented an enlivening picture of activity; there was talk of having
relays of horses on the canal to hasten the transit of anthracite to the
markets where it was so anxiously expected. Great impatience was displayed at
the snail-paced way of dragging along on the canal, with one horse, and that
only in the daytime.Coal was king, and all the people in the coal region were
his worshipers.
FLUCTUATIONS AND EMBARRASSMENTS
IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING 1830
To
this impulsive enthusiasm there was, unfortunately a check before these
flattering hopes had time to blossom.The movement of the trade had but fairly
started when a series of misfortunes occurred on the canal; leaks and breaches
and damaged locks interrupted the navigation. The shippers because vehement
with impatience at the supposed tardiness of the superintendents who had charge
of the repairs, and at the inefficiency and parsimonious policy of the managers
of the navigation company, who could not be made to appreciate the exigency of
the occasion. At length on the 17th of May the navigation was restored, but
complaints that the canal did not afford sufficient accommodation for the trade
continued to be made throughout the season.
The
sequel to all this outcry and protestation was an overstock market at the close
of the season. The amount sent from the Schuylkill region was 89,984 tons, an
increase of 10,011 tons over the supply of the preceding year. The aggregate
supply from all the regions was 175,209 tons, being an increase of 63,126 tons
over the supply of 1829. The actual consumption of anthracite coal in 1830 was
126,581 tons, or 48,628 tons less than the supply. The prices of coal were fair
in the spring, and they averaged for the year $2.52 per ton at Pottsville and
$5.50 to $6 per ton at Philadelphia. As the season advanced prices receded, and
before the following spring they were as low as $4.50 per ton in Philadelphia
by the cargo.
The
year 1831 forms an important epoch in the Schuylkill coal trade.It was then it
met with its first serious reverse, induced by overproduction. The market was
broken down by excess in the supply of the previous year of not over fifty
thousand tons.Half a century afterward an excess of millions of tons would be
required to produce an equal effect. Truly, the trade was in its infancy.
Prices of coal declined to $1.50 per ton at Pottsville and $4 per ton in
Philadelphia. Miners' wages were reduced to $1 per day, laborers' to 82 cents.
All together the situation was deplorable. It was the first serious revulsion
the trade had encountered, and it was destined to become the first of a long
series of periodical inflictions.
In
the meantime the low prices of coal had effected almost insensibly a greatly
augmented consumption, especially for household purposes. In the beginning of
autumn the demand became unprecedented. The miners and boatmen, who had sought
other employment during the stagnation of the trade, could not be brought back
in time to mine and transport coal enough to supply the market.The scarcity of
workmen caused an advance in wages. Canal freight rose from $1.12 to $2.50 ton
to Philadelphia, and from Philadelphia to New York from $1 to $2 per ton. On
the 3rd if December Schuylkill coal was selling at $9.50 in New York, advancing
to $17 by the 26th of the same month.
The
business of the year 1832 was distinguished by unvarying and unexampled
prosperity-it was an oasis in the trade, affording unmingled and general
satisfaction. The first boat of the season was shipped by the Schuylkill canal
on the 28th of March.Loud cheers and several salutes of firearms testified to
the satisfaction of the spectators. The amount of coal sent from the Schuylkill
region in 1832 was 209,271 tons, an increase over supply of the preceding year
of 127,417 tons. The average price of coal during the year was $2.37 at Pottsville,
against $1.50 in 1831.
An
embarrassing feature of the coal business in 1832 was the great scarcity of
boats. Freight, which started at $1.50 per ton to Philadelphia (which was
deemed a fair rate), advanced to $3.075 per ton before the close of the season.
The prevalence of the Asiatic cholera in Philadelphia during the summer alarmed
the boatmen, and many boats were withdrawn from the trade during the worst
stage of the epidemic. The boatmen who continued were only induced to remain by
the increased wages they received.The dealers, becoming uneasy in regard to
their supplies, instructed their agents to forward their coal as soon as
possible, without a limit as to freights. From this time may be dated the
origin of an element in the trade which became very harassing and
uncontrollable. The freights on the canal, whenever there was a good demand for
coal or whenever boats were scarce, were advanced at a rate beyond the bounds
of moderation or fair dealing. The boatmen were sharp and unscrupulous, and they
quickly took advantage of every circumstance which could be made to inure to
their benefit. It became a common practice for the shippers or his agent to
travel down the towing path ten or fifteen miles, if necessary, to charter
boats, which could only be secured by an advance in freight at the expense of
the consignee, and a bonus of five or ten dollars at the expense of the
shipper.This intolerable practice was not entirely broken up until the
navigation company became the owner of a majority of the boats and was enabled
thereby to control and regulate the freights in the canal.
COAL MINING ASSOCIATIONS.
In
the month of January 1832, the "Coal Mining Association of Schuylkill
County" was organized. It was composed exclusively of master colliers, and
those immediately connected with mining. In the roll of its members can be
found the manes of pioneers in the coal trade, who were distinguished for force
of character and superior enterprise. The following is a list of the officers
in 1822: President, Burd Patterson; vice-president, John C. Offerman;
Treasurer, Samuel Lewis; secretaries, Andrew Russel and Charles Lawton. In
connection with the association there was a board of trade, composed of the
following prominent gentleman, who were identified with the anthracite coal
trade and its early history: Benjamin H. Springer, Samuel Brooke, Samuel J.
Potts, M. Brooke Buckley, James E. White, Thomas S. Ridgway and Martin Weaver.
In the first report of the association, the board estimated the amount of
capital invested in the Schuylkill coal trade up to that time as follows:The
cost of the railroads, including the Mill creek, Schuylkill valley, Mount
Carbon, Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven and the Little Schuylkill, was about
$656,000; the amount invested in coal lands and building in the county was
estimated at $6000,000; the amount expended in opening veins of coal, in
building fixtures; cars, etc., connected with mining, was $200,000; to which
may be added 500 boats, averaging $500 each, $250,000; and the total investment
is shown to have been $7,106,000. The saving in the cost of fuel since the
introduction of anthracite coal was estimated by the board as being then
$6,000,000 annually. Not an individual miner engaged in the business since its
commencement was supposed to have realized a cent of profit.
ANTI-MONOPOLISTS
An
earnest and increasing opposition to incorporated coal companies in the
Schuylkill region, which had agitated the public mind for some time, culminated
in 1833 in public meetings, in communications to the press, in memorials to the
Legislature, and in well sustained public and private argument and
discussion.It was contended that acts of incorporation were unnecessary, all
the transactions of the coal trade coming within the scope of individual
enterprise. In the year 1833 and a number of years subsequently, coal-mining
operations in the Schuylkill region were conducted with rude simplicity and
economy, very little capital being required for their successful prosecution.
The workings were all above the water level, no machinery being required for
water drainage or for hoisting the coal to the surface. Coal breakers and other
expensive fixtures and appliances for the preparation of coal had not then been
introduced.There were at the time were many rented mines properly and
successfully worked, which had not at any time required or had expended upon
them a capital of five hundred dollars each. There were many operators sending
from five thousand to six thousand tons to market annually (which was then
considered a respectable business) that had not at any time a capital employed
of as many thousands of dollars, including the first purchase in fee simple of
the coal mine. It was confidently asserted that it did not require as much
capital to buy a piece of coal land and open the coal mines upon it as it did
to buy a decent farm and stock it did not require as much capital to work a
coal mine as it did to establish a line of stages or transportation wagons.
Hence the granting of acts of incorporation with associated capital was
unnecessary for mining purposes, and they were only procured for stock gambling
purposes, and they were only procured for stock gambling purposes. On the 19th
of March, 1833, a committee was appointed by the Legislature of Pennsylvania
"to investigate the present state of the coal trade within this
Commonwealth and the history of mining operations generally, with a view to
ascertain the effect the incorporated companies, with mining and trading
privileges, will have on the progress of the business and the improvement and
prosperity of the State; and also to inquire what further legislative
provisions will be necessary to protect, facilitate and encourage this branch
of industry." Samuel J. Parker, the chairman of the committee, made a very
able, lengthy and exhaustive report. It took decided ground against the
incorporation of coal companies, especially when combined with the control of
railroads and canals.
CRUDE VIEWS CONCERNING COAL DEPOSITS
To
what extent the coal seams extended downward was a matter of great curiosity
and speculation in 1833.Although it was believed that the beds above the water
level would not be exhausted during that generation, the North American Coal
Company, Robert Young, M. Brooke Buckley, and Blight Wallace & Co., more as
a matter of experiment or convenience than necessity, and as a mean of
ascertaining the relative expense of operating above and below water level,
were engaged in sinking shafts to a considerable depth. Beside the fact that
the coal did descend to an unknown depth, their experiments, it is fair to
presume, were not of much utility, the means adopted being entirely inadequate
to the purpose intended. The undulation of the seams, forming basins and
saddles, was not understood. Every outcrop was regarded as a distinct vein, but
whether they ran through to our antipodes, or wedged out in Gnomes' land-the
sphere of the guardian of mines and quarries-was a mooted question among the
miners.That the veins should stop their descent and return to the surface in
another locality was never dreamed of in their philosophy.
"Nearly
twenty years since," said Henry C. Carey, the great writer on Political
Economy, at the McGinnes testimonial presentation in 1854, "Mr. Burd
Patterson and myself were associated in sinking the first slope, by help of
which our people were made surrounded.Until then, strange as it may seem, it
was universally believed that the coal stopped at the water level-that the
seams did not penetrate far down; and that idea had been apparently confirmed
by the unsuccessful result of an attempt at going below the level, that had
been made by the North American Coal Company. We were then laughed at; but we
proceeded and thus established the fact that the quantity of coal was ten times
greater than had ever been supposed." The slope alluded to by Mr. Carey,
the sinking of which was promoted by himself and Burd Patterson, was sunk by
Dr. Gideon G. Palmer, the practical work being under the superintendence of
George Spencer.
The
belief that the coal above water level would not be exhausted in that
generation proved a delusion to many of the operators. Already in 1835
preparation were being extensively made to sink to lower depths for a continued
supply. Several slopes were under progress in that year, among the number one
on the Black mine, within the limits of the borough of Pottsville; one on the
tract of land known as the York farm, one at St. Clair and another about three
miles east of Port Carbon.The American Coal Company had sunk two slopes, one of
which was in operation; the other was waiting the erection of a steam
engine.The coal trade opened in the year 1834 under less favorable auspices
than had distinguished it for some years previously. The general stagnation of
business incident to a financial panic and a grave political convulsion, such
as then agitated the nation, precluded the possibility of large shipments or
great activity in the business. The amount of coal held over on the 1st of
April from the supply of the preceding year was estimated at 120,000 tons,
which was about one-fourth of the total production.This fact, together with the
diminished consumption by manufacturers during the first half of the year, had
a tendency to seriously check the demand. The effect, upon the laboring classes
in the coal region, of this blight upon this great industry was severely felt.
About one thousand workingmen were thrown out of employment in the Schuylkill
region alone.
The
opinion was very generally entertained that the prospect of the trade for the
year 1835 wore a favorable aspect. A continued increase in the consumption for
household and manufacturing purposes could be relied upon with confidence; and
the recent application of anthracite coal to the purpose of steam navigation
could be reasonably expected to greatly extend its use. The belief was in fact
warranted that the demand and consumption for this year would be commensurate
with the expectations of those who would derive advantage therefrom. The
incentives to enterprise and industry were irresistible to the coal operators,
who were naturally inclined to see a silver lining to every cloud, and who were
generally under the influence of the fascination which characterized the
pursuit of mining; a pursuit the hazards and precariousness of which gave it
additional zest and piquancy, in view of a possible bonanza.
The
expectations of the operators were happily realized in this instance. The
shipments of coal from the Schuylkill region show a gain over those of the
preceding year of 119,796 tons, all of which had been consumed by the first of
April 1836.
THE BOATMEN'S STRIKE
Among
the notable events of the coal trade of 1835 the turnout of the boatmen and the
demonstrations made by them produced the greatest sensation. In May intimations
were given of the intended combination to raise the freights on the Schuylkill
canal.In June the conspiracy culminated in coercive measures and acts of
violence; the movements being animated by the crews of forty or fifty boats.
Hamburg was made the centre of operations, the base of its supplies, and the
field for obstructive measures against the movement of the coal trade.Boats
were stopped and contributions extorted from their crews to meet the expenses
incurred by the strikers. Acts of violence were committed, outrages
perpetrated, and by force of intimidation the business on the canal was almost
entirely suspended. Finally individuals were assailed with stones and other
missiles; a reign of terror prevailed at Hamburg and its vicinity, and the mob
pursued its insurrectionary measures with impunity. The civil authorities
connived at the lawless proceedings of the rioters, and by their culpable
apathy afforded them encouragement. The interruption to the trade on the canal
became at length a very serious and intolerable evil, involving severe loss and
suffering to thousands of people, who were interrupted in their daily
avocations by the closing up of the only avenue to market for the produce of
the country. An attempt was made by some prominent citizens of Pottsville to
pass up a boat, with a view of testing the accuracy of the reports of the
conduct of the boatmen.They were resisted by a formidable force and violence
committed upon their persons. This led to the arrest of seventeen of the
principal offenders.A descent was made upon Pottsville by about three hundred
of the rioters, headed by a band of music and with banners flying. They met
with a warm reception; several of the leaders were arrested, while others made
their escape, being hotly pursued for several miles by the sheriff.Thus after
nearly three weeks interruption to the trade the boatmen's rebellion was
subdued. At the November term of the court in Reading ten of the offenders were
arraigned on a trial for conspiracy. They pleaded guilty to the charge, and, at
the request of the prosecutors not to fine or imprison them; they were
sentenced to pay a fine of one cent and the costs of prosecution.
FLUCTUATIONS IN 1836
The
fluctuations in the coal trade were remarkably exemplified in year 1836. The
movement of coal commenced unusually late in the spring, after a severe winter.
The market was bare of coal, and the demand for it was active and urgent, from
the beginning of the boating season to its close by frost, at an earlier period
than usual.During the first half of the season the prices of coal were
moderate, ranging from $2 to $2025 per ton at Pottsville. After that time an
apprehension of a short supply included redoubled exertions to increase the
yield of the mines. The usual result followed. Miners became scared and their
wages rose rapidly. A supply of them and of laborers of every description could
not be procured, and those already employed became demoralized by the high
wages they were receiving. They became exacting and unreasonable in their demands,
and aggressive in conduct toward their employers. Another difficulty
encountered was a scarcity of boats. All the boat builders on the line were
fully employed, but they could not keep pace with the growth of the trade.
Freights advanced from $1.25 per ton to Philadelphia in the spring to $2 per
ton at the close of the season.Runners were employed on the line of canal to
secure ascending boats, and day and night a sharp and vigilant competition
prevailed. In sympathy with the rise in prices of other commodities, and the
increased cost of its production, anthracite coal advanced in price to $3 per
ton at Pottsville before the close of navigation.
The
production from the Schuylkill region in 1836 was 448,995 tons, a gain over the
shipments of the preceding year of 90,418 tons. During this year there were
shipped from Philadelphia in 2,924 vessels to distant ports 313,838 tons of
anthracite coal.
FIRST SHIPMENT DIRECT TO NEW YORK
Although
the Delaware and Raritan canal had been completed and in navigable order since
fall of 1834, no steps had been taken to use the facilities it afforded for
transportation to New York by the Schuylkill coal trade up to the year 1837. At
length Colonel John M. Crossland, a boat builder in Pottsville-a man of spirit,
energy and dash-conceived the idea of making an experimental voyage by this
route, with a view of testing its practicability and if successful of bringing
its advantages into public notice.Accordingly, having built a boat for the
purpose which he named the "Adventurer"-an open boat without deck
covering, furnished with a mast, sail, cordage, windlass and anchor-he departed
from Pottsville on the 30th of August 1837, with a cargo of coal bound for New
York. It being the initial voyage by this route, great interest was taken in
the enterprise, and fervent hopes were entertained that its issue would be
prosperous; for, in the event of its success, it would probably be followed by
regular shipments of coal by the same route.
From
some cause not fully explained the voyage was ended at New Brunswick, where the
cargo was sold and discharged. It was the full determination of Colonel
Crossland, however, to make another trial. Having been kindly provided with a
cargo of coal by Messrs. T.& I. Beatty, he again, about the middle of
October, started off on his adventure. He encountered adverse winds, dense fogs
and innumerable vexatious delays.With wonderful audacity he neither employed a
steamboat to tow the "Adventurer" or a pilot to direct her course, depending
altogether upon his sail, his pluck and his star for the issue. After an
absence of thirty-eight days our voyager returned to Pottsville. He had not
been "round the world" but he saw something of it, and he delivered
the first cargo of coal from the Schuylkill region to New York direct and
without trans-shipment. In the year following Colonel Crossland's experiment,
Messrs. Stockton & Stevens had a fleet of boats built expressly for the
direst trade to New York.
COAL TRADE IN 1837.
The
short supply and high prices of coal in 1836 induced a strong effort to be made
in Congress to remove the duty on foreign coal, under the pretext that a supply
of the domestic article could not be obtained. This circumstance stimulated the
coal operators to make extraordinary preparations throughout the winter of 1837
to meet an increased demand. Day and night they labored with indefatigable
industry and enterprise to increase the productive capacity of the mines, at
the same tine stacking the banks on the surface with mounds of coal, in
anticipation of a large consumption and to demonstrate that a supply could be
furnished without foreign importations. Scarcely had the shipments attained
their full volume, in the month of April, when there occurred a financial panic,
which deranged all branches of business. Its immediate effect upon the coal
trade was disastrous. Orders were countermanded to a degree that involved the
necessity of suspending operations at a large number of the collieries.The
operators at this juncture held a public meeting, and issued an address to
their customers and the public, defining their position, their preparations
made during the winter to supply the market, and the heavy amount of their
expenditures, and admonishing the consumers of coal that the consequence of
permitting time to elapse in inactivity would be a short supply in the market
at the close of navigation. To avert this deplorable event, which always bears
so hard upon the poorer classes, capitalists were invited to make investments in
coal. Their appeal was met with derision by the representatives of the press in
the large cities, and the operators were unjustly accused of practicing a ruse
to keep up the price of coal by gulling the public into the belief that coal
would be scares unless something was done.
The
violence of the monetary convulsion was soon expended, and after languishing
awhile the coal trade relied, and the absolute necessity for a supply of
coal-the market being bare-restored activity. After many vicissitudes in the
business during the year, and oscillations in prices of coal, of freight and of
the wages of labor, the season of 1837 came to a close with an increase in the
supply, compared with that of the preceding year, of 97,361 tons from the
Schuylkill region.
On
the first of April 1838, the stock of anthracite coal in the market remaining
over from the preceding year was estimated at 200,000 tons. A considerable
depletion of the market was required before a demand for the new product could
be expected. The shipments, consequently, were very light until about the first
of June, and after that period the general and protracted depression in almost
every branch of business, and especially the diminished consumption of coal by
manufacturers, cast a cloud over the trade, and it dragged sluggishly along
until the close of navigation. The supply of coal from the Schuylkill region
was 94,332 tons less than in 1837.
FIRST MINING COMPANY INCORPORATED
During
the session of the Legislature of Pennsylvania in the winter of 1838 the coal
operators, the miners and laborers at the mines, and the citizens generally of
Schuylkill County were very much exercised upon the subject of incorporated
coal companies. The occasion of this excitement was a bill introduced in the
Senate by the Hon. Charles Frailey, the member from Schuylkill, for the
incorporation, with the usual exclusive privileges, of a company entitled the
"Offerman Mining and Railroad Company," to be located in the
Schuylkill coal region. The indignation of the people was intensely wrought
upon; not only because they were opposed in principle to conferring such
grants, but they believe they were being betrayed by the party to the
application and the senator who was its champion, who had on former occasions
stood by them shoulder to shoulder in opposition to similar measures. The
covert, insidious and persistent manner in which this bill was pressed upon the
Legislature provoked energetic opposition and implacable hostility. First it
was introduced-at a former session-as incorporating the "Cataract
Company," and failed.It next appeared as establishing the "Buck Ridge
Railroad and Mining Company," with a capital of $350,000 and a term of
twenty years. It stood at the head of ten other-so called-monopolies, all
incorporated in the same bill. It was logrolled through both houses, and at
length found its way to the governor, who put his veto upon the whole batch,
including the famous "Buck Ridge." It was supposed this blow would
destroy the monster forever.Not so, however. It was hydra-headed, and appeared
again under the title of "Offerman Mining Company." In opposition to
this bill a memorial signed by two thousand persons was sent to the Legislature
in charge of a committee. The voice of the coal region was heard in earnest remonstrance,
but it was all of no avail.The bill passed both houses, was vetoed by the
governor and passed over the veto.
The
charter thus obtained never became operative under the title bestowed upon it
was buried out of sight for a time, to be resurrected at some future day under
another name.
ANTHRACITE FOR SMELTING IRON ORE.
The
discovery of the process for smelting iron ore with anthracite coal was as
event of transcendent importance in the manufacture of iron in Pennsylvania,
and, as a resulting consequence, in the production of anthracite coal. The
impulse it gave to the trade in both commodities diffused inestimable benefits
upon commerce, navigation, manufactures, and every industrial pursuit. The
construction of furnaces along the main channels of navigation, especially in
the valleys of the Schuylkill and the Lehigh rivers, had an almost magical
effect upon, the development of the natural resources of the country, enhancing
its mineral and agricultural wealth, its internal trade, commerce, manufactures,
and every description of business and industry; all of which was made manifest
by the increase and spread of population, and the aggregation of towns,
villages and cities.The consumption of anthracite coal affords a fair index of
the consequential results of the manufacture of anthracite iron.For example,
its consumption on the line of the Schuylkill above Philadelphia in the year
1839, at which time the first anthracite furnace in the United States-the
Pioneer, at Pottsville-was put in blast, was 30,290 tons. Ten years afterward
it had increased to 239,290 tons, in the year 1859 to 554,774 tons, and in 1873
to 1,787,205 tons. A large proportion of this rapid expansion of the coal trade
on the line of the Schuylkill can be fairly attributed to the iron works, which
so greatly stimulated every business enterprise.
FLOODS
The
navigation of the Schuylkill canal, which had been impeded by the low stage of
water in 1838, was seriously damaged by an ice freshet of extraordinary magnitude
on the 26th and 27th of January, 1839. The ground being frozen hard and
impervious to water, the streams were soon overflowing by the heavy rain, the
ice broke up, and the torrent with the force of a deluge swept crashing and
roaring through the valley of the Schuylkill with fearful impetuosity, carry
along with resistless force every obstacle or obstacle or obstruction that it
encountered.The water rose in a few hours in many places twenty feet above its
usual level, sweeping away bridges landings, canal boats and dams, and doing
great damage to the works of the canal in exposed situations.In Philadelphia
the freshet caused the greatest inundation ever known in the Schuylkill. The
wharves were entirely submerged, and the entire eastern shore of the
Schuylkill, extending from the Market street bridge over a mile toward the
Naval Asylum, presented a scene of chaotic confusion, wreck and ruin. Not a
single vessel of any kind was left afloat after the water had subsided. Barges,
boats, sloops and schooners were lying ashore, and some of them had been lifted
by the rising water over vast heaps of coal, and deposited in a situation from
which they could only be extricated with great difficulty.By extraordinary
exertion the Schuylkill canal was repaired in time for the usual opening of
navigation to the coal trade.
The
coal business of 1839 was unsatisfactory and unrenumerative.Starting in the
spring with 150,000 tons of coal in the market, the trade languished throughout
the year. Many of the collieries were idle part of the time, although coal was
offered at less than the cost of putting it into boats. Many miners for want of
employment were forced to leave the region.This deplorable estate of affairs
was caused by overproduction, by a want of vessels to pressure of the money
market.It may be truthfully said that the trade was suffering because of the
under-consumption of coal, for if the country had remained in its normal
condition of prosperity all the coal that could have been produced would have
found a ready market.
The
aggregate supply of anthracite coal from all the regions during the twenty
years of its production-commencing with the year 1820, and ending with the year
1839-was 5,723,997 tons.Of this amount the Schuylkill region furnished
3,346,413 tons, or 58 per cent.To this preponderance of coal production was
added superiority in the development and improvement of the region, Schuylkill
surpassing the other regions in population, in all industrial and trade
pursuits, and in every indication of prosperity. This can be easily accounted
for. The Schuylkill region had an advantage in distance to tide water, in the
accessibility and facility of development of its coal beds, and it was open to
the enterprise of all who chose to enter. The Schuylkill Navigation Company was
incorporated without mining privileges, and it was consequently the interest of
the company to invite tonnage from every source. Hence public attention was
strongly attracted toward the southern coalfield.In the Lehigh region an overshadowing
monopoly controlled the coal trade, and for many years repelled all
competition. Consequently the trade was restricted, and the growth of the
country and the development of its resources retarded. The same observations
had not yet been opened.
The
great depression in coal trade continued throughout 1834, without a noticeable
improvement in its condition. On the 8th of January 1841, there occurred an ice
freshet of unexampled violence, in the Schuylkill and Lehigh rivers, which had
a marked influence upon the coal trade. The Schuylkill at Reading was higher
than it had been for fifty-five years. It caused unusually heavy damage to many
portions of the Schuylkill Company's works, particularly in the mountainous
section above Reading. Measures were promptly taken to repair the damage
sustained.It was not until the middle of May that all was in readiness to open
the works throughout for the accommodation of the trade.The consequences of the
flood on the Schuylkill were trifling, however, compared with the devastation
on the Lehigh, for there it assumed the proportions of a terrible and
deplorable calamity. Contemporary writers describe it as awful and
tremendous.The obstruction to navigation caused by the flood gave rise to an
apprehension of a short supply of coal, and it stimulated the demand throughout
the year. The great prostration of the trade during the two previous years had
crippled the resources of the Schuylkill region to an almost ruinous extent,
and a serious crisis in their affairs was only averted by the disaster on the
Lehigh.How often has the coal trade been rescued from ruined and disaster by
providential visitations interposing checks to overproduction. Just when the
producers were disposed to abandon a pursuit that afforded more disappointment
and worriment than satisfaction and remuneration a good year would be
interjected and fresh happy stroke of fortune gave a fascination to the
business that always kept the ranks of its devotees full.The demand for coal
was pressing and the season short. Great activity and energy were displayed in
supplying the market. The urgency of the condition of affairs developed a
troublesome element in the trade, which was a marked feature in the year's
operations. We allude to the extravagant rates of freight on coal on the
Schuylkill canal. The freight from Pottsville to Philadelphia range from $1.10
to $2 per ton, the average for the whole season being $1.50; and the freight
from Pottsville to New York commenced at $2.75 per ton, and rose as high as
$4.40, averaging for the season $3.42. The great competition among shippers in
procuring boats, and the pernicious expedients restored to, were the cause,
mainly, of the rise in freights. The weekly shipments from the Schuylkill
region in 1841 were larger than they had ever been before, and the shipments
for the year showed a gain over those of the previous year of 127,161 tons. The
average price of Schuylkill white ash lump coal by the cargo at Philadelphia
was $5.79 per ton during the year. This was an advance of 88 cents per ton over
the average price of the previous year.
STATISTICS
At
a public meeting of persons engaged in the coal trade of Schuylkill county held
at Pottsville January 31st, 1842, a report on the coal statistics of that
county was made, by which it appears that the value of the real estate and
personal property, and the cost of the public improvements dependent upon the
coal operations of that district, were as follows: 65 miles incorporated
railroads $650,000; 40 miles individual railroads, $90,000; 40 miles individual
railroads, underground $40,000; 2,400 railroad cars, $180,000; 1,500 drifts
cars, $45,000; 17 colliers below water level, with steam engines, etc.,
$218,000; 9 steam engines for other purposes, $14,000; 100 colliers above water
level, $150,000, 80 landings at shipping ports, $160,000; 850 boats, $425,000;
900 boat horses, $54,000; 80,000 acres coal land, at $40 per acre, $3,200,000;
working capital, $200,000; towns, etc., in the coal region, $2,500,000;
Schuylkill canal, $3,800,00;Philadelphia and Reading railroad, cars,etc.,
$5,000,000; Danville and Pottsville railroad,$800,000. Total, $17,526,000.
Population
engaged in or entirely dependent on the coal trade, 17,000; number of horses
employed in boating and at the collieries, 2,100; agricultural products
annually consumed, $588,572; merchandise consumed annually, $918,352.
At
that time there were in use in the county thirty steam engines, amounting to
upwards of 1,000 horsepower.Twenty-two of these engines were manufactured in
the county.
The
market created in the coal region for the produce of the farmer had more than
double the value of the farms in the county of Schuylkill, and materially
enhanced the value of some portions of adjoining counties.
The
rents paid to the owners of coal lands, for coal and timber leave, amounted to
$2000,000 in 1841; the average rent on coal alone was about twenty-five cents
per ton.
The
greatest depth attained in mining below the water level in 1842 was 153 feet
perpendicular below the level of the Schuylkill river in dam No.1 of the
navigation; and at that depth the coal was found to be as good in quality and
as thick in the vein as at the surface.
PHILADELPHIA AND READING RAILROAD
In
the progress of our sketch, we have reached an epoch in the history of the
anthracite coal trade of Schuylkill County of paramount interest and
importance-the opening of a new avenue to market from the Schuylkill coalfield,
by the completion of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. The commanding
influence this rail road has had, and must continue to have, upon the destiny
of this important and rapidly augmenting trade entitles it to the greatest
attention and the most profound consideration. The Schuylkill navigation, which
was the pioneer public improvement and channel of communication between the
Schuylkill coal region and tide water, had afforded up to this period ample
accommodation to the coal trade; and to the Schuylkill Navigation Company must
accorded great credit for the inestimable aid it extended, by means of its
works, in the development of the resources of the valley of the Schuylkill, and
of the mineral treasure embedded in the mountains of Schuylkill county.The time
had, however, arrived when another avenue to market was required for the
accommodation of the prospective increased in the consumption of anthracite
coal, and the completion of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was hailed
with universal satisfaction. The benefits that could reasonably be expected
from this great improvement were fully appreciated. Its ultimate effect was to
revolutionize the entire modus operandi of the coal business.
On
the first of January 1842, the first locomotive engine and passenger train-with
the officers and directors of the company on board-came through from
Philadelphia to Mount Carbon. On Monday and Tuesday, the 10th and 11th January,
a grand excursion party of citizens of the coal region passed over the road to
Philadelphia and back by invitation of the directors.On the evening of the 11th
a public dinner and ball was given at Pottsville which closed the ceremonies of
the opening of the road.
The
immediate effect of its completion was a reduction in the cost of transportation.
An immediate rivalry was instituted between the canal and railroad companies
for the coal traffic, resulting on the reduction in the cost of transportation
of $1.11 compared with the rates of 1841 by canal to Philadelphia.But this
reduction was of no benefit to the producers, who, in the ardor of competition,
instead of advancing the price of coal proportionately with the reduction in
freights, lowered them twenty-five to fifty cents per ton on board boats at the
landings.Never before had prices been so low. Coal was a perfect drug in the
market. So sluggish was the movement of the trade, so short the demand, that it
was impossible to keep the collieries running with any regularity. The prices
of coal declined to so low a figure that it was ruinous to all engaged in the
business. Unquestionably the most disastrous year of the trade since its
commencement was 1842. The operatives at the mines, with low wages and only
partial employment, were reduced to great suffering and distress. Wages had fallen
to $5.25 per week to miners and $4.20 to labors, payable in traffic. There was
scarcely cash enough paid out at some mines to bury the dead. It was a sore
grievance to the workingmen that they did not receive money for their little
earnings instead of "store orders." The excuse for the payment of the
men in traffic was that the exigencies of the trade made it unavoidable, and
the "half a loaf was better than no bread." Such an attempt at
vindication only made more conspicuous the utter demoralization of the trade.
There could be no logical justification for depriving the laboring man of the
satisfaction of drawing the amount of his earnings-after deducting charges
voluntarily contracted-in the currency of the country. The continuance of the
practice led to deplorable consequences. The dissatisfaction gradually
increased until it culminated in the first general strike in the region.
STRIKE IN 1842
On
Thursday, July 7th, 1842, a meeting of miners and laborers was held at
Minersville, about four miles from Pottsville, at which the grievances of the
workingmen were discussed, and measures for their redress decided upon. It does
not appear that any conference was held with their employers, or complaint made
by committee, preliminary to the inauguration of forcible measured. Through the
influence of some of the turbulent spirits who swayed their councils they were
incited to violence, intimidation and outrage as a first resort. Accordingly,
on Saturday afternoon, the 9th of July, the first demonstration was made. The
citizens of Pottsville were startled by the appearance in the town of several
hundred men, begrimed with the dust of the mines and armed with clubs and other
weapons. They come down the Norwegian Railroad, passed hastily along to the
landings at the Greenwood basin, driving the laborers engaged there away by
force, and hence to Mount Carbon, where the laborers were likewise driven
away.This invasion was so unexpected that the outrage was perpetrated before
the citizens were prepared to prevent it, or to make any arrests. In the
evening of the same day two companies of volunteers were ordered to Minersville
for the protection of the citizens, who were alarmed for their safety on
account of divers threats and demonstrations of intended violence.On Monday the
sheriff ordered the Orwigsburg and Schuylkill Haven volunteer companies to
march to Pottsville and aid in suppressing any disturbance that might ensue. On
the some day about a thousand of the disaffected workingmen met in the Orchard
at Pottsville, when they were addressed by the District Attorney, F.W. Hughes,
who explained the law to them. The behavior of the men throughout the day was
characterized by order and decorum. There were about fifteen hundred men
engaged in the strike, many of whom were dragooned into it by force of
intimidation.After having committed numerous acts of violence and outrage at
the collieries, and spent several weeks in idleness, those of them who could
obtain employment were glad to accept it upon any terms.Schuylkill County put
in conditions for the passage of the cars of the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad Company.On the third of March 1842, eighteen cars passed over it from
the mines of Gideon Bast, at Wolff creek, and were forwarded by rail to
Philadelphia.
On
the 17th of May 1842, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was open for
transportation to the wharves at Port Richmond, and on the 21st of that month
the first train, of fifty cars, containing 150 tons of coal from the mines of
Gideon Bast, was forwarded to that point.The train left Schuylkill Haven at
four o'clock in the morning, and the coal was discharged into a vessel which
set sail for an eastern port in the evening of the same day. This transaction
presented a striking contrast to the slow movement by canal, and it gave the
trade an idea of the facility with which the coal business could be conducted
by rail when all the arrangements were completed.
On
the 8th of August 1842, the information was given to the public, in the
Philadelphia Evening Journal, that eight barks, four brigs and eight schooners
were counted at the wharves at Port Richmond, loading with and waiting for
cargoes of anthracite coal.The reporter of this intelligence did not dream that
the day would come when 225 vessels could be loading at those wharves at the
same time, when 28,000 tons of coal would be shipped therein from in one day,
95,858 tons in one week, 2,720,027 tons in one years, and that their capacity
for shipping would be 4,000,000 tons annually. Yet all of this came to pass within
thirty-five years.
The
average price of coal in 1842 on board vessels at Philadelphia was $4.18 per
ton, a decline of $1.61 per ton compared with the average price of the
preceding year. The average price in 1843 was $3.25 per ton, a further decline
of 93 cents. The reduction in the price by the cargo in Philadelphia since the
opening of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad,-two years-was about $2.50 per
ton.
DISCOURAGEMENT.
The
result of the operations of 1843 in the Schuylkill region was of course very
unsatisfactory. It was a repetition, somewhat exaggerated, of the previous
year. They were both very distressing years, when every species of property was
alarmingly depreciated and every description of business appeared to be
paralyzed. But, notwithstanding the dark shadows of the past and the gloom of
the present, there was a remarkable infatuation throughout the region to rush
into the coal business. Storekeepers, mechanics, and others who had been
enabled to save a little money could not rest contented until they had lost it
in a coal mine. Labor was cheap, they argued, and then was the propitious time
to develop the mines, and be prepared for the good times coming. The older
operators, however, who had pinned their faith upon the trade, and who had so
long relied upon the coming tide "which taken at the flood leads on to
fortune," began now to realize that there was something radically wrong in
the conduct of the coal business. Every year those persons engaged in it became
poorer, and many had lost all they formerly possessed in this hazardous
pursuit.A very few only, who had superior mines and advantageous locations,
were enabled, with economical working, to realize any profit at the close of
the year. The opportunities which nature had so lavishly provided for the
attainment of business success were frittered away by a system of empirical
mining and reckless competition. The richness of the coal deposits in the
Schuylkill region, and their great accessibility, seems to have invited a
superfluity of delvers, who like bungling reapers destroyed the harvest they
had not the skill and wisdom to garner.Overproduction, from the commencement of
the trade, has been the main cause of failure in colliery operations. In 1843
there were many operators, the product of whose mines was so small that a
handsome profit per ton mined would not have paid the salary of the
superintendent. Many operators were so cramped in their circumstances, in
consequence of previous losses and a want of capital, that they were evermore
"tiding over" a pressing crisis in their affairs by forces sales of
their coal, ending in their own ruin and the demoralization of the trade
generally.
PRIMITIVE METHOD OF PREPARING
COAL-BREAKERS.
The
original method of preparing anthracite coal for market was simply to divest it
of slate and other impurities and of the fine coal and slack. It was passed
over a chute with longitudinal bars about two inches apart, and all that passed
over the bars was merchantable coal, and all that passed through them was
rejected. There was consequently much coal deposited on the dirt banks, which
at the present time is considered of full value; also much left in the mines as
unmerchantable on account of its small size. The market would not accept any
coal that would not pass for lump coal. After a number of years, however, it
was suggested that coal for household purposes ought to be broken at the mines,
and John White, the president of the Delaware Coal Company, paid fifty cents
per ton extra for coal broken down to a size suitable for burning in grates.
The coal thus prepared was known in the market as "broken and
screened" and it commanded fifty cents per ton more than lump coal.
Finding this mode of preparation received popular favor, the system was extended.
Screens were manufactured of iron rods (subsequently of wire) with meshes of
various dimensions, which assorted the coal into the sizes now known in
commerce. This refinement of preparation, resorted to by the operators to
captivate their customers, added greatly to the cost of the coal, for which
they were not remunerated, and it cultivated a fastidious fancy for uniformity
of size, which was impracticable and of no advantage. Indeed, the caprice of
the consumers in the demand for the different sizes of coal, and the
fluctuations from one size to another in their preferences, have been a
fruitful source of expense and annoyance to the operators every since the
introduction of the system.
The
first method of breaking coal-on the pile, with hammers was slow, wasteful,
expensive, and laborious. After being broken it was shoveled into a revolving
screen to remove the dirt, and it was then shoveled into barrows and dumped
into the cars.The coal was then hauled to the landings with horses or mules on
the railroad, dumped on the wharf, screened and assorted into the various sizes
and deposited on a pile, ready to be wheeled into the boat. The whole process
was crude, primitive, expensive, and compared with the present system, absurd.
About
the year 1842 the breaking and preparation of coal became the subject of great
cogitation among the operators, and many improvements were suggested, resulting
in the adoption of what became known as the penitentiary; which was a
perforated cast iron plate, through which the coal was broken with hammers, the
coal falling into a hopper, and from thence into a circular screen worked
either by hand horse power, or by steam. It was an improvement on the old
system, but it did not meet the requirements of the business.
The
first attempts to break coal by machinery were made at Pottsville, we believe,
by Mr. Sabbaton, and by Mr. Larer, but, not proving as successful as was
anticipated, they were afterward abandoned.
In
1844 the first coal breaker, after the patent of Joseph Batten, of Philadelphia,
was erected as an experiment at the colliery of Gideon Bast, at Wolff Creek,
near Minersville.So superior was this improvement that it was soon generally
adopted through out the coal regions. The machinery constituting the breaker
was driven by a steam engine, generally of fifteen to forty horse power, and it
consisted of two or more cast iron rollers with projecting teeth, revolving
toward each other, through which the coal was passed; and the coal thus broken
was conducted into revolving circular screens, separating the different sizes
and dropping the coal into a set of chutes or bins, ready to be transferred, by
the raising of a gate, into the railway cars. Sufficient elevation above the
railway to the dump chutes above the rollers was always secured to carry the
coal by gravity through all the stages of preparation into the cars below. Such
is the modern coal breaker, which enables the operator to handle an amount of
coal that was impossible before its adoption, some of these structures having a
capacity of one thousand tons per day. The reader can form no idea of these
huge structures from a written description. In a few years they became the
conspicuous and striking feature of every colliery of any importance in the
several coalfields.
IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILROADS.
The
average price of white ash lump coal by the cargo in Philadelphia in 1844 was
$3.20 per ton, which was the lowest figure it had ever been sold at. This
reduction was caused entirely by the low ration of transportation, induced by
the active competition between the canal and railroad interests. The prices of
coal at the shipping ports in Schuylkill County ranged from $2.00 to $2.25 per
ton, and were fairly remunerative.The demand was good throughout the season,
and the result of the year's business was very satisfactory. A great impetus
was given to manufactures and all industrial interests by the operation of the
tariff of 1842, causing an increased consumption of anthracite coal. The
increase in production in the Schuylkill region over that of 1843 was 166,002
tons.
The
shipments of coal in 1845 show an increase of 270,003 tons over those of 1844
in the Schuylkill region. The region had doubled its production since 1842, and
still maintained the position it had held since 1832 of supplying more than
one-half of the amount of anthracite coal sent to market. From the commencement
of the trade in 1820 to the end of 1845 the total amount sent from all sources
was 13,629,393 tons, of which the Schuylkill region furnished 7,673,163 tons,
an excess over all others of 1,716,933 tons.
At
the completion of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in 1842 to Mount
Carbon, which was then it terminus; it had merely progressed to the entrance
gates of the great southern coalfield.Before the heavy coal tonnage for which
the company was aiming could be secured there was much more to be done. All the
railroads in Schuylkill county, leading from the landings or shipping ports on
the canal to the collieries were in their superstructure wooden roads, strapped
with flat bar iron; they were not adapted to the movement of the heavy cars of
the Reading Railroad company and it was entirely impracticable to run
locomotive engines over them. Moreover, there were connections only with the
Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven and the Mount Carbon Railroads. A bridge was
required at Port Clinton to connect with the Little Schuylkill Railroad; and a
new road was required to connect Mount Carbon with the Mill Creek and
Schuylkill Valley Railroads at Port Carbon. These lateral railroads were owned
by different incorporated companies, who levied tolls on the coal transported
over them, of from tow and a half to four cents per ton per mile. In connection
with these roads were many short branches, belonging to individuals. All of
these roads had to be reconstructed to comport with the changes made in coal
transportation.
Before
the close of 1845 the lateral railroads had all been reconstructed, and they
were operated, with some exceptions, by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
Company. The introduction of the company's cars on said roads produced a
complete revolution in the management of the coal business. When the canal was
the only avenue to market the operators had their own cars, and they furnished
their own transportation to the terminus of the lateral road, when motive power
was used, was reduced from fifty to sixty-six per cent; but they were dependent
upon a transportation company for facilities to conduct an essential part of
their business, and had thereby lost control of the amount of their production.
A short supply of cars became a great grievance, and it crippled many
operations. Although the railroad company had been increasing its rolling stock
every year it had been unable to keep pace with the demand of the trade for
cars. In 1845 the company was overwhelmed with complaints, both of the short
supply of cars and of their unfair distribution. The attention of the president
of the company having been directed to the abuses of the distribution, he
manifested a disposition to extend every accommodation in his power.On the 5th
of March 1846, he addressed a circular note to the operators, requesting them
to attend a meeting at Pottsville on the 10th of that month, to devise means to
insure an equitable distribution of cars during the ensuing season.The meeting
was largely attended, embracing all the operators in the region, a number of
landholders, and a large representation of wharf-holders at Port Richmond. The
interest felt in the proceedings was earnest and absorbing, many of those
present believing that their business interests had been inexcusably trifled
with, and improved regulations were adopted.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE SCHUYLKILL
NAVIGATION.
The
Schuylkill Navigation Company had learned, after a few years' experience and
competition with its formidable rival, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
Company, that it was in danger of losing the bulk of its coal tonnage, and that
to preserve it decided measures must be adopted immediately and put into
execution to improve the facilities of the navigation, to enlarge its capacity,
and to generally increase its advantages and attractions as an avenue for the
transportation of coal. An enlargement of the canal, increasing its capacity so
as to float boats of from 180 to 190 tons burden, was determined upon, and the
work was completed in 1846.In order to bring this improved navigation into
active employment the company directed its attention to the new arrangements
required at the shipping ports in the coal region. The old landings were not
adapted to the large cars made necessary by the wide gauge of the reconstructed
railroads and the use of locomotive power upon them; and the old docks were to
contracted for the large barges adapted to the enlarged navigation. New docks,
new wharves and landings were consequently required. Prior to the enlargement
of the canal and the reconstruction of the lateral railroads, the shippers
provided their own landings or rented them from the owners, and they furnished
their own cars; nor was it uncommon for the shippers to furnish or partially
furnish their own boats. The extension of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
into the region, and the facilities offered to the trade by it, changed the
situation, and it devolved upon the navigation company, in order to keep pace
with its rival, to furnish the cars in which to transport the coal from the
mines to the canal, and to provide all the shipping facilities.It is due to the
managers to acknowledge that this enterprise was performed in a manner highly
satisfactory to the trade.The new landings were admirably contrived for the
purposes intended, combining every essential for convenience, economy and
dispatch.
The
coal operators regarded the improved and enlarged navigation with unmingled
satisfaction. The presumed ability of the navigation company, in its improved
condition, to cope with its powerful rival would, it was believed, inure to the
advantage of the trade.
The
amount of coal sent from the Schuylkill region in 1846 was 1,247,202 tons, a
gain of 121,408 over 1845. The trade was reasonably prosperous, the prices fair
and well maintained. There were 110 operators in the region and 142 collieries.
Thirty-two operators sent to market in round numbers 990,000 tons, leaving only
247,000 tons as the product of seventy-eight operators. There were 107
collieries above and 35 collieries below water level. Twenty-two collieries
were in a state of preparation, 12 of which were above and 10 below water
level.There were 106 steam engines, of 2,921 horsepower, employed at the
collieries, 38 of which were built during the year.
Great
expectations of the future of the Schuylkill coal trade were entertained at
this period. The Miners' Journal, of Pottsville, remarked upon the prospect as
follows: "When we consider the indomitable spirit of perseverance and
enterprise which pervades our business community; the two splendid avenues to
market, now completed; the numerous railroads penetrating through and almost
encircling our region, all of which are now or will soon be re-laid with heavy
iron rails; the immense steam power, equaling the capacity of more than 14,000
men, with its iron sinews and unwearied toil, employed in raising, breaking and
screening coal; the extent and capacity of the region, the varieties of its
coal and its geographical position-it must be clear to the minds of all that
Schuylkill county is destined hereafter to increase in wealth and prosperity to
an unexampled degree, and far to outstrip her competitors."The supply of
anthracite coal from all the regions in 1847 was 2,977,400 tons, an excess over
that of the preceding year of 686,623 tons. This was the largest annual
increase that had ever occurred.Of this excess 398,721 tons were from the
Schuylkill region, notwithstanding there were complaints of a want of
transporting facilities during the whole year.This condition of affairs
afforded strong evidence of the great preparations that had been made, within a
year or two, in increase the yield of the mines; and it presented another example
of the irrepressible tendency of the coal producers to overstock the market.
RIVALRY IN TRANSPORTATION.
The
Schuylkill Navigation Company transported only 222,693 tons of coal in 1847,
the first year after the enlargement, which was attributed to deficient
equipment and an injudicious tariff of tolls, which repelled the line trade.
The
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company was deeply impressed with the folly
of continuing the war which had characterized the business of 1845 in the
struggle with the Navigation Company, and it was anxious to enter into an
amicable arrangement with the latter company, of mutual advantage, whereby
harmonious relations might be established and perpetuated. Early in 1847 an
attempt at negotiation between the two companies was made. Believing that the
canal would be capable of carrying the increased production, the railroad
company made no preparation to extend its business, and it conceded 400,000
tons of the coal tonnage for the ensuing year to the Navigation Company.The
latter company rejected this offer with disdain, insisting upon 500,000 tons as
its share of the trade. This not being acceded to, the negotiations were broken
off, and each company made its own arrangements. It happened that both
companies had all the tonnage they could carry, and their united facilities
were not equal to the demand of the trade. The sequel was that of 1,583,374
tons of coal sent to market in 1847 by the two avenues, only 222,693 tons were
sent by the Schuylkill canal.
The
stock of coal remaining over in the market on the 1st of April, 1848, was
estimated at 275,000 tons; a burden under which the trade dragged heavily
during the whole year. In connection with this circumstance the prostration of
business diminished the consumption and checked the demand for coal. The result
was a breakdown in prices and a great demoralization in the trade. The
production in the Schuylkill region showed an increase of only 89,297 tons.
An
agreement entered into between the railroad and navigation companies for the
government of the transportation of coal during 1849 had for its basis the
principle that the toll and transportation from Pottsville to Philadelphia. The
transportation of one-third of the coal tonnage was conceded to the canal,
which was estimated to 600,000 tons for this year-the amount actually
transported being only 489,208 tons. The tolls for 1849 were adjusted so as to
average $1.70 per ton by rail, and 75 cents per ton by canal. These rates were
regarded as too high for the languishing condition of the trade-they did not
admit of a competition in the market on equality with other regions. It was not
apparent to the average understanding why the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
Company should charge $1.70 per ton for a service that cost no more than 65
cents, or why the Schuylkill Navigation Company should charge 75 cents per ton
for a service that it performed without loss before the "enlargement"
at 50 cents per ton. How, it was asked, about the great advantages over all
other lines of the Reading railroad, with its admirable and uniformly
descending grades, in favor of the trade? How about the great reduction in the
cost of transportation that was to be accomplished by the improved, the
enlarged, the magnificent Schuylkill navigation?The low prices at which coal
was offered in 1849, by the dealers in Philadelphia, about the first of
March-prices that would not net the operators the ruinous rates of the previous
year-caused great excitement in Schuylkill county. A very large meeting of the
operators was held at Pottsville on the ninth of March, at which a remarkable
unanimity was exhibited and a stern resolution manifested to maintain the
prices of coal at a remunerative rate, notwithstanding the sinister arts of the
parasites who had fastened themselves upon the vitals of the trade.The
co-operation of all the operators in the region was earnestly solicited in the
adoption of such measures for their mutual protection as the exigency required.
A committee appointed at a former meeting reported substantially that the
people of Schuylkill County had been brought to the verge of bankruptcy by a
bold and novel system that had been devised in the previous year, and had been
again introduced at that time. Some speculative persons enter the eastern
markets in advance of the producers, and by offering coal-which they had not
yet bought-at prices below the cost of its production they secure all the
orders for immediate delivery.The nature of mining requires that the daily
product shall have an uninterrupted sale and removal from the mines. Having
thus all the orders in their hands, these forestallers avail themselves of this
peculiarity in the business, and the want of union for common protection
against such a scheme, to alarm the small colliers, and thus to break down the
market prices to suit their purposes. In this way a barrier was created between
the producers of coal and the consumers, keeping them effectually apart.To put
a stop to this unjust system the colliers of Schuylkill County were strongly
urged to form an efficient organization without unnecessary delay. The
principle was asserted that the only legitimate regulation of prices is the
relation between supply and demand, with some reference, of course, to the cost
of production.
SUSPENSION AND STRIKE.
It
was then resolved, with the concurrence of the operators representing
three-fourths of the tonnage of 1848, to suspend the shipment of coal to market
from the 19th of March to the 7th of April, both inclusive, except to iron
works. This suspension was subsequently continued from week to week until the
2nd of May, making all together seven weeks.
On
the 2nd of May, the day appointed for a resumption of work at the mines, the
operators were confronted with an organized strike by the miners and laborers
for an advance in wages.As usual upon such occasions this movement was attended
with demonstrations of violence, the object being to compel their fellow
laborers who were disposed to work to join their ranks.Where the men had made
terms with their employers and had gone to work, they were driven from the
works by large bodies of man armed with clubs and other weapons. The whole
difficulty would have been promptly arranged had it not been for the
interference of self-constituted leaders, styling themselves a central
committee, who arrogated despotic power. The collieries were all in operation
again by the 21st of May, but the demand for coal was very moderate, and in a
few weeks there were symptoms of a drooping market. To prevent an overstock
another suspension of work, for two weeks from the 23d of June, was determined
upon. A lethargic feeling in the market continued to the end-no improvement
took place, and prices were not maintained.
During
the period of the suspension of mining much salutary discussion was had in
regard to the morbid condition of the trade, and the reckless disregard of
sound business principles and judicious regulation and control, with which it
had been suffered to drift along, to the inevitable ruin of all embarked in it.
It was estimated that the operators in the Schuylkill region had sunk in 1849
$250,000 on their current business alone, without considering interest on
investment.
GENERAL CONDITION OF TRADE TO 1850.
The
aggregate quantity of anthracite coal sent to market from the several coal
fields in Pennsylvania during the first thirty years of the trade-from 1820 to
1850-was 25,230,421 tons; of which there was derived form the Schuylkill region
13,990,050 tons, or 55.45 per cent. The supply of the last ten years included
in the above-from 1840 to 1850-included from the Schuylkill region 10,655,567
tons, or 54.63 per cent.
It
will be observed in the above statements that the statements that the supply
from the Schuylkill region exceeded that of all the other regions combined, and
this was the result, mainly, of individual enterprise in competition with large
incorporated companies endowed with special privileges. But while the
Schuylkill region greatly surpassed all others in production, the conclusion
was not so satisfactory in regard to remuneration for capital invested and time
and labor expended. There were weak points in the management of the business
which had a very unfavorable influence upon it. The profits realized in
favorable years were immediately invested-often with as much more capital or
credit as could be secured-in making improvements on lands in which only a
leasehold interest was held; instead of requiring the landowners to develop and
improve their own properties.In this way all the risk was assumed by the
tenants, of the condition of the seams of coal when opened and of the value of
the colliery when complete; while large sums of money were expended which were
needed in the commercial routine of the business, and especially in marketing
the coal without the aid of intermediary factors, who usually absorbed all the
profit derived from its production.Another injurious element in the Schuylkill
trade was the large number of small operators, many of whom were without
sufficient capital to conduct their business properly, and were soon
financially embarrassed and caught in the toils of the "middlemen,"
to whom they sold their coal at reduced prices, under the vain hope that
something would turn up opportunity in their behalf. They were in a great
measure the cause of the ruinous prices that so frequently prevailed.
Subsequently to the period now under review Mr. Cullen, then president of the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, was reported to have remarked that
the mining of coal in the Schuylkill region would not become profitable until
the small operators were broken up.
The
Schuylkill coal operators, however successful in attaining a large production
generally, failed in an essential part of their business-the marketing and sale
of their product.Without organization or unity for the conservation of their
interests as producers and venders of coal, they rushed into the market in
destructive competition with each other, over one hundred in number, as though
their object was to break down the market, or to produce a larger tonnage than
their neighbors, or perchance to raise money to pay their hands and life some
promissory notes. It was only when their affairs became desperate, when a crisis
was nearly impending, that a call was made to halt and a spasmodic effort made
for self preservation. Under such management, or rather want of management, the
periodical distress of the trade was inevitable.
During
the ten years ending with 1849 there were only four years of prosperity in the
Schuylkill trade. On 10,655,567 tons of coal sent to market from the region
during that period there was not probably, on an average, any profit realized
by the operators. But if they derived no emolument from their business, other
interests in the region, dependent upon the coal trade, flourished and
prospered in an eminent degree. As an evidence of this, we need only state that
the population of Schuylkill County was 29,072 in 1840, and in 1850 it had
increased to 60,713 or over 200 per cent, in ten years.
FLOODS IN 1850.
In
the spring of the year 1850 the Schuylkill coal trade wore a gloomy aspect. It
was universally conceded that unless something was done to arrest the downward
tendency of the trade the operators must sink under the difficulties with which
they were contending. An appeal to the landowners and to the transporting
companies for aid was in contemplation. A disastrous crisis was closely
impending. The sheriff had already closed out some of the colliers, and others
were "hanging on to the willows."This deplorable condition of affairs
continued until the 19th of July, when by the interposition of Providence a
great flood swept down the valleys of the Schuylkill and the Lehigh, which
suspended navigation for a period, restricted the supply of coal and changed
the whole aspect of the trade. Hope again lent its inspiration to the
operators; and when on the 2nd of September a still greater flood descended
than the first, rendering it certain that the prices of coal must advance, they
felt that their situation had been affirmed.The storm of the 18th and 19th of
July, 1850, was of an extraordinary character for that season of the year, and
it was particularly severe in the valley of the Schuylkill. Property to a vast
amount was destroyed. The boatmen suffered heavily by the loss of boats, the
coal operators by the loss of coal and the inundation of the mines. The damage
to the Schuylkill canal was considerable. It was not until the 28th of August
that the navigation was restored.
Only
five days after the movement of loaded boats had fairly commenced-on the 2nd of
September-a second flood descended, which destroyed the Schuylkill navigation
for the remainder of the year.The destructive force of the flood was tremendously
augmented by the bursting of the Tumbling run reservoir, and, as a consequence,
the breaking away of the numerous dams in the Schuylkill river. The reservoir
covered twenty-eight acres of ground, was forty-two feet high at the breast of
the embankment, and contained over 23,000,000 cubic feet of water. The effect
of suddenly precipitating such an immense volume of water into an already
swollen and angry flood, roaring and dashing through a narrow mountain gorge,
is beyond imaging.It was the highest freshet, and the most destructive to life
and property, known from memory or tradition to have visited the Schuylkill. At
some places the river rose twenty-five feet above its ordinary level, and
covered the Reading railroad track at several points for the depth of three to
five feet.In referring to this freshet the president of the Schuylkill
Navigation Company says: "A flood with which nothing that has heretofore
occurred in the valley of the Schuylkill within the memory of man can be
compared. In the great elevation of the waters, in the destruction of property
and life, and indeed in all it accompaniments, no living witnesses have seen
its parallel. The most stable buildings were compelled to yield to the fury of
the raging waters, and the very foundations of the mountains in many places
were actually swept out."After the September freshet the prices of coal on
board vessels at Port Richmond advanced $1 per ton, which prices were
maintained until the close of the season. The cars and machinery of the Philadelphia
and Reading Railroad Company were taxed to their utmost capacity, day and
night, to supply the urgent demand for coal after the September flood. The
amount of coal transported by the company during 1850 was 1,351,507 tons, an
increase of 253,745 tons over the tonnage of the preceding year. From the
Schuylkill region, including the Lykens valley, there was an increase in the
supply of 59,677 tons compared with that of 1849.
RIVAL MARKETS AND TRANSPORTATION
LINES.
The
antagonism in the New York and eastern markets of the Lehigh Coal and
Navigation Company, the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and the Pennsylvania
Coal Company, to the Schuylkill coal operators and dealers assumed a determined
shape in 1851. It was alleged that a combination had been formed by those
companies to conduct their sales so as to command the whole market as far as
possible, leaving the Schuylkill region to supply only so much coal as the
combination might be unable to mine or transport.An effort was made to secure a
mutual good understanding with these parties in reference to charges for
transportation and to the quantity to be mined, but they were determined to
lend no hand to effect an arrangement. The Schuylkill region had heretofore
supplied more than one-half of the anthracite coal consumed, and the parties
interested in the mining and transportation of coal from that region were not
willing to submit to or acquiesce in a policy by which they would be unable to
maintain their accustomed position, and command their usual proportion of the
trade.The managers of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company resolved to
adjust their charges so as to meet the occasion and commanded a fair proportion
of the trade. Before, however, giving publicity to the course upon which they
had determined, arrangements were made with the parties occupying the wharves
at Port Richmond to secure the large tonnage of the year. This covert movement
excited the suspicion of the managers of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, who
believed the canal was being deprived, by some underhanded measure, of its
portion of the trade, and that the terns of the arrangement between the two
companies were being violated. Instigated by these impressions, the managers,
with great precipitancy, made such extraordinary reductions in the tolls on the
canal that the whole trade was thrown into confusion. The results of these
complications were unprecedentedly cheap transportation, a spirited demand for
coal at low prices, a greatly augmented production and supply, and the
introduction of anthracite coal into new markets. Over one half the supply was
furnished, as previously, by the Schuylkill region. The supply of anthracite
from all the regions in 1851 was 4,428,919 tons, an increase of 1,151,554 tons
over the supply of 1850. The increase in the supply from the Schuylkill was
535,656 tons over the supply of 1850.
INCREASED CONSUMPTION.
It
was a cause for wonder and surprise that the heavy supply of coal in 1851 had
almost disappeared by the opening of spring in 1852, and the market was seeking
with avidity a fresh supply. The notable increase in the consumption of coal
was due to the relief of the business depression, the resumption of operations
at the iron works and other manufactories that had been totally or partially
suspended for a long time; the impulse given to ocean steam navigation and the
coasting trade; the expansion induced by low prices, facilitated by the
extension of the railway system of the country into new markets; the increase
in population, and the great scarcity and high price of wood. During the whole
of 1852 the anthracite coal trade was prosperous.The operators received a fair
return for capital invested and labor was liberally rewarded.
A
statistical chart, prepared by Benjamin Bannan, Charles W. Peale and Colonel J.
Macomb Wetherell, for the World's Fair, held in New York in 1853, furnished the
following statistics of the Schuylkill coal region: Number of collieries, 115;
red ash, 58; white ash, 57; operators, 86; miles of underground railroads, 126
1/2; steam engines employed in the coal operations, 210; aggregate horse power,
7,071; number of miners and laborers employed at collieries, 9,792; miners'
houses, out of towns, 2,756; capital invested in collieries, $3,462,000; of
which there was invested by individual operators about $2,6000,000; number of
yards in depth of the deepest slope, 353; thickness in feet of the largest vein
of coal, 80; of the smallest, 2. The coal lands worked in 1853 were owned by
six corporations and about sixty individuals; about twenty-five of the owners
resided in Schuylkill county; the remainder abroad. The entire coal production
of 1853 was the result of individual enterprise. The coal royalty in the region
averaged about thirty cents per ton. The income to the landowners in 1853 for
rents was nearly $800,000.
There
were several obstructions to an even flow of the coal trade in 1853. In the
fall of 1852 a decline in prices of coal occurred and some loss was sustained
by dealers on their stocks laid in before the decline. Mistrusting that the
same condition would occur in 1853, they delayed making their purchases in the
spring and influenced others to pursue a similar course, and as a consequence,
the production fell off largely. Until after the first of June the trade moved
sluggishly and prices ruled low. After that the demand for coal improved, and
by the middle of July it became importunate and could not be satisfied.
Frequent local strikes by the miners, who had become demoralized by the advance
in wages previously paid, reduced the yield of the mines and proved the fact
that the higher the wages the less the percentage of production.
In
the mean time the demand for coal for steamers, iron works and other
manufacturing purposes became so great that coal, which sold at $1.80 at the
mines in the spring, was run up to $2.50 and $3 before the close of the season.
The consumption of coal had apparently overtaken the capability of the mines
for production, and the supply was decidedly short, as was made quite apparent
the following year.
A PERIOD OF PROSPERITY.
The
year 1854 is remembered by those engaged in coal mining at that time as the
"good year." It was indeed an extraordinary year in the history of
the coal trade; extraordinary for the demand and high prices for coal, for the
high rates of transportation, the high prices of provisions, the high prices of
labor, and the stringency of the money market.Every department of business
connected with the production and transportation of coal was distinguished for
its prosperity.
The
trade opened in the spring under the most auspicious circumstances.Coal was in
great request. The market was in a depleted condition. The rush and struggle
for coal which soon ensued surpassed the expectations of the most sanguine.The
operators were masters of the situation, and they would have been censurable,
in view of losses in the past, had they not availed themselves of the rare
opportunity to improve their fortunes. The demand continued pressing, almost without
pause, until the close of navigation, prices reaching $3.50 per ton at the
shipping ports in the coal region.
The
cost of the transportation of coal to tide water and the coastwise freights
advanced in a proportional degree with the price of coal at the mines. Freight
from Port Richmond to Boston advanced from $2 to $3.80 per ton.
Labor,
and every material entering into the cost of coal, advanced in price in as
great or a greater degree than that product, as will be seen by the following
quotations:
1853 1854
Flour
per bbl $5.50
$9.50
Corn
per bushel 70 1.15
Oats
42 66
Potatoes 45 1.30
Pork
per lb. 07 10
1\2
Beef
08 12
Lumber
per M 13.00
18.00
Iron
advanced ninety and miners' wages from forty to fifty per cent.
One
of the most interesting events in 1854 was the presentation at the Mansion
House at Mount Carbon, on the 11th of October, by gentlemen of Philadelphia
interested in the coal deposits of Schuylkill county, of a tea service of
silver to Enoch W. McGinnes as a token of their appreciation of his invaluable
service to the region in the development he so successfully made at the Cartey
shaft at St. Clair. Mr. McGinnes sunk the first perpendicular shaft in the
Schuylkill region, and demonstrated the fact that the great white ash coal
veins of the Mine hill and Broad mountain ranges ran under the red ash series
of the Schuylkill basin.He established the face of the accessibility for
practical working of the white ash coal measures throughout the entire basin.
OPENING OF MAHANOY VALLEY.
The
extension of the Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad to the Mahanoy region
at Ashland was completed in September 1854. This was the first practicable and
effective railroad to penetrate the great Mahanoy coalfield. In anticipation of
the approach of the railroad a number of collieries were in a state of
preparation, a large number of houses had been erected, and a considerable
population had centered at Ashland and vicinity during 1854. The first car of
coal sent over the road was from the mines of Conner & Patterson, and was
consigned to John Tucker, the president of the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad Company.Neither the branch railroads nor the collieries were ready for
business, and the regular shipments of coal did not commence until the
following spring.
The
amount of coal sent to market from the Schuylkill region in 1855 was 3,513,860
tons, 417,958 more than in the preceding year.Judging by the amount of the
production a superficial study of the trade of this year would indicate a
satisfactory condition of prosperity. But a closer examination reveals the fact
that the great volume of the business was the mistake and the misfortune of the
trade; the operators were stimulated to make improvements and extensive
preparations for an enlarged business, instead of nursing their resources and
accumulating for a year or two. The consequence was overproduction, a plethoric
market and low prices.
Impressed
with the folly of the recklessness of the past, and smarting under the losses
sustained in their business, a determined effort was resolved upon by a number
of the leading Schuylkill operators to bring the coal business within the
control of safe and rational principles. Early in February 1856, a coal
association was organized, with Samuel Sillyman, a man of sound judgment and
large experience, as president. Meetings were held every Tuesday and Friday to
deliberate upon the condition and prospects of the trade in the near future, to
promote unity and steadfastness of action, and to devise measures for mutual
protection and benefit.
COMPETITION IN CARRYING-JOHN TUCKER'S
MANAGEMENT
Among
the most effective causes of a drooping market in the spring of 1856 was the
opening of new sources of\ supply. The new avenue to market from Scranton to
New York had a malign influence on the trade; not so much by what could
actually be accomplished by that route as by its high pretensions and boastful
promises. With all these blatant pretensions the total amount of Scranton coal
sent to competitive points in 1856 was only 85,668.
The
rates of transportation to tide water for the year were of vital importance to
the Schuylkill coal operators, and not the promulgation of the new program was
looked for with great solicitude.The influx of coal from the Lackawanna region
by a new avenue, and the candidature of the Lehigh Valley Railroad company for
a proportion of coal tonnage to its new road, made it of great consequence that
a conflict between the transporting companies should be avoided and an equitable
adjustment of rates be established. The miners of coal who were without
transporting facilities of their own had become deeply sensible of the
disadvantage they were laboring under in being forced into competition with
large corporations possessing mining and transporting privileges, who could
when so disposed sacrifice all profit in the mining to secure profit on the
transportation of their product.
MORE RIVALRY.
About
the first of May the president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company,
John Tucker, having discovered that the tolls to Port Richmond were equivalent
to the prices of the New York companies in the New York market, but were
fifteen cents too high for the eastern markets, concluded to make a drawback of
fifteen cents to the latter points and not disturb the rates to other points;
because if he did the Pennsylvania Coal Company assured him they would reduce
their prices for coal.This arrangement it was supposed would remove all
difficulty, and restore animation to the Schuylkill trade. Frederick Frailey,
the president of the Schuylkill Navigation company, was no sooner apprised of
this measure than he, either misapprehending the object or suspecting a design
to take advantage of the Navigation Company, immediately announced a reduction
in the toll by canal to Philadelphia of fifteen cents per ton-from 80 to 65
cents. This surprising movement unsettled the whole trade. The Reading Company,
in order to maintain its relative position with the canal in the New York
market, was obliged to reduce the toll on the road fifteen cents per ton, and
the New York companies reduced the priced of coal in a corresponding degree.
This reduction, so far from being of any service to the trade, added to the
evil it was already suffering from. It created an impression abroad that there
might be another season of destructive competition among the transporting
companies; and dealers and consumers withheld their orders in anticipation of
still lower rates.The reduction did not benefit the operators-the only parties
really suffering-as it was deducted from the price of coal at tide water; and
it proved an unnecessary sacrifice of profit on transportation, without
increasing the consumption. The result of the year's business was a decline of
nineteen cents per ton in the price of coal at the mines below the low rated of
1855.
The
amount of coal sent to market from the Schuylkill region in 1856 was 3,437,245
tons, a decrease of 76,615 tons compared with the supply of the preceding year.
The supply from the Schuylkill region in the 1857 was 273,376 tons less than
that of 1876, and it was the first year since 1832 that this region did not
furnish over half the entire supply of anthracite coal from all the coal
fields. The position then lost has not since been recovered, even with the
accession of the Mahanoy region.The market at the opening of canal navigation
in 1857 was sufficiently stocked to supply immediate wants, and the demand was
consequently very sluggish, and so remained for several months. The depression
in business generally caused an interruption to the usual percentage of
increase in the consumption of coal, and the capacity for production in the
different regions was consequently greatly in excess of the requirements of the
market.The large New York companies entered into a desperate struggle and
rivalry for the market, initiating their proceedings by a reduction of about
fifty cents per ton in the prices of coal, as compared with the prices of the
preceding year.The trade progressed in a languishing way until September, when
the ever-memorable monetary convulsion took place, paralyzing industry,
destroying confidence and credit, bankrupting thousands of businessmen and
producing a general contraction or collapse in business transactions. Many of
the operators had reached that condition when an additional feather's weight
would break them down, and they now succumbed.
EFFORTS TO ACQUIRE CONTROL OF THE COAL
TRADE.
The
Schuylkill coal operators early in 1857 entered into an arrangement with John
Tucker, who had resigned the presidency of the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad Company, to assume the regulation of the Schuylkill coal trade. Mr.
Tucker by his long acquaintance with the movements of the trade, the official
intercourse he had held with the representatives of the different mining and
transporting companies, and his ready tact, superior management and ability,
was admirably qualified for the position. After due deliberation it was
determined to give a plan submitted by Mr. Tucker a fair trial. Operators
representing over three millions of tons subscribed to the new arrangement. Mr.
Tucker became the head of the coal association and assumed the duty of
controlling the supply of coal, so that it could not fall below a paying price
to the producer. His utmost skill and energy were applied to this work, but he
must have ascertained that it was more difficult to manage the Schuylkill coal
trade than the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. The effort to regulate the
trade and make it prosperous was a failure. The time was inauspicious and the
trade incorrigible. After the financial crash in September every operator was
left to his own devices. Sales were made at the best prices that could be
obtained. The result of the year's business was a great disappointment.
On
the 21st of January 1858, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company
sold at auction in the city of New York 10,000 tons of Lackawanna coal, $1 per
ton below the circular prices of the company at the close of the preceding year.Whatever
the original object was in resorting to this unprecedented expedient, it became
the usual practice of this company.The system of periodical sales of coal at
public auction was interjected into the business as a permanent measure. This
reprehensible practice has proved to the trade an incubus of the most blighting
description. To obtain a monopoly in the market the profit on the carriage of
the coal became the main object, to which the product of the mines was made
entirely tributary.No other measure could be devised so well adapted to
demoralize the trade and to depreciate the commercial value of the article
sold. If the evil consequences of the practice were confined to the parties
indulging in it, there would not be so much cause for complaint, but
unfortunately they permeate the whole trade; the prices obtained becoming the
standard of value. By these periodical forced sales the mining interest as a
specialty, its capital and the product of thousands of operatives have been
disregarded and sacrificed-made a subservient auxiliary of a transporting
company and of its stock jobbing operations. The low prices at which these
sales of coal were made-always below the cost of production, adding the
tolls-amounted virtually to a reduction in the rate of transportation on the
company's coal, and to a monopoly of the Scranton coal trade at Elizabeth.The
other coal companies and individual operators in the Lackawanna region could
not pay the prescribed toll on the railroad and deliver coal at Elizabethport in
competition with the company without sustaining a heavy loss, and their only
alternative, therefore, was to sell their coal to the company at any price they
were offered.The Schuylkill operators viewed with great alarm the illegitimate
methods pursued by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company. In
the exercise of its privilege to both mine and transport coal that company
threatened destruction to individual enterprise in the Schuylkill region.
Having no transporting facilities of their own, the Schuylkill operators were
virtually excluded from the New York and Eastern markets unless large
concessions were made in the charges for transportation by the Philadelphia and
Reading Railroad Company and the Schuylkill Navigation Company. Low tolls and
freights were absolutely necessary in this crisis. It was the interest of those
companies to support the region from whence they derived their tonnage. The
navigation company made no abatement in the tolls, but allowed the whole burden
to fall upon the poor boatmen, in an unprecedented reduction in freights. Just
enough was conceded by the Reading Railroad Company to induce the producers to
continue operations, taking care to exact from the trade a profit to base a
dividend upon. This contracted and illiberal policy caused great
dissatisfaction in the region in 1858 and 1859, and a strong effort was made to
build a railroad direct to New York, as a radical remedy for the evils that
encompassed the trade.The Reading Railroad Company succeeded in thwarting this
project. The increase in the supply of coal in 1859 compared with the supply in
1855, from all the regions, was 1,136,909 tons, while during the same period
the decrease from the Schuylkill region was 326,533 tons.
A
notable feature of the Schuylkill coal trade in 1858 was the upheaval of labor.
Strikes for higher wages were frequent, and in some instances stubbornly
prolonged. Wages were based upon the prices of coal and were undoubtedly
reduced to a low standard. The workingmen got all that the proceeds of their
labor would bring in the market, while their employers were receiving nothing
for the use of their capital. The attempt to exact more than their labor was
worth at that time, by a combination and turnout, was necessarily a failure,
and it recoiled upon those who essayed it, with suffering and loss.
TRADE DURING THE FIRST FORTY YEARS.
The
supply of anthracite coal from all the regions during the first forty years of
the trade-from 1820 to 1860-was 83,887,934 tons. Of this amount the Schuylkill region
furnished 42,719,723 tons, or 50.93 per cent. In the decade ending with 1849
the Schuylkill region furnished 54.62 per cent of the whole supply; in the
decade ending with 1859 it furnished 49 per cent.Comparing the shipments from
each region during the ten years ending with 1859 with the shipments of the ten
preceding years, we find an increase from the Schuylkill region of 18,047,106,
or 169.62 per cent; from the Lehigh region of 7,359,920 tons, or 170 per cent;
from the Wyoming region of 12,531,661 tons, or 285.72 per cent; and from the
Shamokin region of 1,185,402 tons, or 809 per cent. The aggregate increase from
all the regions was 39,151,089 tons.The supremacy heretofore held by the
Schuylkill coal trade was gradually departing. The tendency of the trade was
alarming, and it invoked the profound solicitude of the intelligent operators,
whose fortunes were involved in its prosperity or adversity. For a number of
years investigations and interchange of opinions had been made in regard to the
characteristics of coal mining in the Schuylkill region-the errors committed
and the remedies best to be applied. Proud of their achievements as individual
operators, in contrast with incorporated companies, yet there was a decided
change of opinion manifested about this time (1860) in regard to the wisdom of
the system upon which their mining operations had so far been conducted. The
mistakes of the region were becoming manifest, and their consequences obvious
to all. It was becoming more and more evident that associated capital was
essential for the development and improvement of the region thenceforward.
Since the trade first sprang into importance, very nearly all the money made in
it was invested in improvements upon leasehold properties, of insufficient area
for durable operations.In a paper read by P.W. Sheafer before the Pottsville
Scientific Association in 1858, he says: "It is doubtless unfavorable to
the profitable working of our coal beds that there is frequently both a want of
capital and of the proper concentration of that which exists.Certainly no
method of mining coal can be less economical than to fit out a number of
separate operations upon comparatively small estates, with all the necessary
engines and other improvements, instead of selecting a suitable point from
which the coal of several adjacent tracts could be worked by one large
operation equipped in the best manner. This policy can only be carried out
effectively by the union of the proprietors of adjacent tracts. Indeed the
pursuit of the coal below the water level, requiring increased capital, has
already tended to the concentration of the business of mining in fewer hands;
and as the necessity of shafting to the lower coals becomes more apparent, the
discussion, among those interested, of an enlightened system of harmonious
action is more and more frequent."
CONDITION OF SCHUYLKILL OPERATORS.
The
Schuylkill coal operators were scarcely ever without a grievance. Being subject
to the arrangements of the transporting companies for the movement of their
product, they were as a consequence peculiarly exposed to measures of a
grievous tendency. They had no voice in the regulation or control of one of the
most important elements of their business-transportation to market. The tolls
imposed were inexorable and they were cunningly devised to stimulate production
of tonnage without promoting the prosperity of the producer. In the Schuylkill,
as in the Lackawanna and other regions, the coal mining interest was reduced to
a subservient vassalage to the transporting interest.The operators, instead of
being recognized by the carrying companies as patrons or customers, whom it was
politic to cultivate, were regarded as machines to provide tonnage for their
lines, which it was their interest to keep in good running order-that and
nothing more. The coal operators might have asked with great propriety whether
individual enterprise in coal mining, with hired transportation, could ever
compete with the large companies possessing mining, trafficking and transporting
privileges.
The
particular grievance with the Schuylkill operators in 1860 was that the rates
of transportation did not place them on an equality with the producers from
other regions in the New York and eastern markets.The Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad Company, in the report of the managers, showed that the quantity of
coal transported in 1860 was 1,878,156 tons, and the receipts for tolls on coal
were $2,328,157.52. A comparison with the coal business of the road in 1859
shows an increase of 245,224 tons carried, an increase of $444,472.40 in
receipts and an increase of $367,742.86 in profits. The net profit on the
general business of the company, after deducting all expenses and the renewal
fund, was $1,625,984.67. The dividend fund after deducting interest on the
bonded debt was $894,863.67 as against $388,329.42 in 1859.The report makes a
very favorable exhibit to the stockholders, but at the same time it seems to
justify the complaints of illiberal exactions in the charges imposed.
In
1861, for the first time in the history of the trade, the supply of coal from
the Wyoming region exceeded in quantity that from the Schuylkill, and this
supremacy it has held ever since, except in 1865 and 1866. The entire supply of
1861 was 595,001 tons less than in the preceding year. The falling off in the
Schuylkill region was 653,903 tons. The war excitement interfered seriously
with the movement of the coal trade, and many of the collieries were crippled
by the departure of numbers of miners and laborers, who had enlisted as
volunteers in the army. The general depression in business that prevailed this
year, and the prostration of the iron trade and other industrial pursuits of a
peaceful character especially, induced a greatly diminished consumption.
Competition, always excessive, was double intensified, and prices of coal
depressed almost beyond precedent.The general result of the year's business was
consequently even less favorable than in 1860.
The
same disadvantages and inequality under which the Schuylkill trade struggled in
1860 were again imposed by the transporting companies in 1861. The loss in coal
tonnage of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was 417,324 tons, and of the
Navigation Company 173,118 tons, compared with the tonnage of the previous year.
The operators felt that they had become the pack horses to bear the burdens of
the trade for the benefit of the carrying companies. They believed that ruin
would inevitably overtake every one engaged in the trade unless some effective
remedy was promptly applied.
The
extraordinary action of the Pennsylvania Coal Company in reducing the prices of
coal in the spring of 1862, about fifty cents per ton below the opening rates
of the preceding year, elicited a burst of indignation in all the coal
regions.The promulgation of their circular paralyzed the trade.But the
depression caused by that action proved to be the finale of the gloomy period
in the history of the coal trade.
DAWN OF BETTER TIMES.
The
increasing consumption of anthracite coal by the United States government for
war purposes, and by manufacturers of war material, gave an impetus to the
trade that was gradually improving its condition, and would have been quicker
and more decided in its effects had it not been for the folly of some of the
producers. It required the intervention of Providence to administer a quick and
effective remedy for the ills of the trade, and this was applied on the 4th of
June 1862, by a flood of unexampled violence and destructiveness. The
navigation of the Schuylkill was interrupted about three weeks, of the Lehigh
until the 4th of October. One of the consequences of the freshet was a
diminution of nearly a million of tons in the supply of coal for the year.
Prices of coal, of transportation, and of labor rose rapidly.The price of coal
on board vessels at Port Richmond advanced from $2.65 in April, to $5.75 before
the end of the season, and averaged for the year $4.14, against $3.39 in 1861.
After
the June freshet the miners became exacting.Frequent acts of violence were
committed and unlawful demonstrations made by men on a strike. Before the close
of the season numerous turnouts took place, and a number of collieries were
forcibly stopped.
The
project of building a railroad direct to New York was revived in 1862. On the
15th of July books for subscription to the stock of the Schuylkill Haven and
Lehigh Railroad Company were opened at Philadelphia and a majority of the stock
taken. On the 5th of August following the company was organized, engineers
employed to locate the road, and a vigorous effort made to carry out the
project. After the road had been put under construction the Philadelphia and
Reading Railroad Company succeeded in stopping it.
The
following railroads were leased by the Philadelphia and Reading and taken
possession of at the periods named: Schuylkill Valley and Mill Creek railroads,
Sept. 1st, 1861; Swatara, April 1st, 1862; Mount Carbon, May 16th, 1862;
Mahanoy and Broad Mountain, July 1st, 1862; Union Canal, July 25th, 1862.
The
Mahanoy and Broad Mountain Railroad was completed late in May 1862.The first
car of coal passed over the road on the 30th of May, from the mines of Connor
and Patterson, consigned to Charles E. Smith, president of the Reading
Railroad, Philadelphia. On the 4th of June occurred that memorable flood by
which the road was so seriously damaged that three months were required to make
the necessary repairs.
The
demand for coal throughout 1863 exceeded the most extravagant calculations made
early in the season, and was greater than the producing and transporting
companies could supply. Prices consequently ruled higher than ever known
before.The season opened with a bare market. Notwithstanding there was an
increase of 1,747,445 tons in production during the year, the consumption was
so great that no stock in first hands was left over for sale in any of the
great markets. The prices of coal on board vessels at Philadelphia in 1863
advanced from $5.38 per ton in January to $7.13 in December; averaging for the
year $6.06, as against $4.14 in 1862.
The
cost of producing coal increased at a greater ratio than did its cost to
consumers in the leading markets of the seaboard. The following comparison of
the cost of the items named in November 1862, and November 1863, is taken from
the books of a large operator. Laborers per week, $6, $12; miners, $7.50, $18;
powder per keg, $4, $4.75; whale oil per gallon, .90, $1.25; iron rails per
ton, $45, $90; corn per bushel, .60, .90, oats per bushel, .45, .90; hay per
ton, $12, $30; lumber per thousand feet, $12, $28; mules each, $150, $240;
miners by contract per day, $2, $5.
MOLLIE MAGUIRES.
The
high wages received by miners caused considerable dissatisfaction among those
engaged in other pursuits. The remuneration to skilled mechanics, to
experienced accountants, to mining engineers, to learned professional men, was
far below that of the uneducated miner. The anomaly was presented of muscle,
applied six to eight hours per day, receiving better reward than brains,
exercised from the rising to the setting of the sun.And yet those pampered
miners demanded still more. The coal regions were rendered hideous by violence
and outrages committed in the enforcement of their importunate and unreasonable
demands.The lives of the superintendents and agents of the operators were
threatened in written notices, conspicuously posted, couched in execrable
language and hideously embellished with drawings of pistols and coffins. Nor
did they hesitate to use their pistols upon any slight pretext or occasion,
with the feelings and in the spirit of hired assassins. Their fellow workmen
who were well disposed were forced to acquiesce, at the peril of their lives,
in this reign of terror. To prevent the anthracite coal regions from sinking
into a state of barbarity-to prevent the center of a great industry from
becoming a pandemonium for outlaws-and to secure to the government a supply of
coal for war purposes, it became necessary to occupy the coalfields with
national troops. The rioters were controlled by a number or imported
professional agitators, whose business it was to sow dissension, to cultivate
discontent, and to organize conspiracies.
The
coal regions also became the harbor of another class of immigrants.These were
confirmed and hardened criminals, the scum of foreign lands. Desperate and
unscrupulous, they were the terror of every neighborhood, and exercised a
fearful domination over their fellow workmen. These were the Mollie Maguires,
the men to waylay and murder superintendents, to burn coal breakers, and to
commit every description of outrage.
PERIOD OF GREATEST EXPANSION.
The
year 1864 was a period of overflowing and bountiful prosperity.It was notable
for the high standard of values of all staple commodities, and in the
anthracite coal trade for the wonderful expansion in all its branches-with high
prices for coal, high prices for labor, high rates for transportation, and a
great appreciation in value of every material entering into the cost of the
production of coal. It was also notable in the coal regions for the aggravated
nature of the aggressions of labor against capital, and for the turbulence,
violence and flagrant outrages committed with impunity by numbers of workmen
employed at the mines. Such was the contemptuous disregard of the restraints of
law and civilization, and such was the subdued meekness of capital in its
relation to labor, that a true and faithful narrative of the events of that and
subsequent periods will scarcely be credited after the lapse of not many years.
The
year was notable for the large fortunes suddenly acquired by the sale of
collieries, as well as by the profits in mining; by the extensive sales of coal
lands; and by the organization of numerous coal corporation. The exceptional
times of 1864 afforded a number of coal operators an opportunity to retire from
the business, with a competency who had been on the brink of bankruptcy.Of
these a few were wise enough to embark in safer enterprises. Many more returned
to their first love, and wer scorched in the flames of their own carbon. Some
invested in oil, and their hard earned gains soon slipped smoothly away. Very
few were left after a few years who had anything substantial remaining of the
good times of 1864.
The
expansion of 1864 greatly hastened a revolution then under progress. The
arrogance and demoralization of labor finally deprived capital of the control
of its investments. The operators having lost control of the business, and
capital being repelled by lawlessness, the danger was that the coal regions
would lapse into a wilderness again. The transporting companies, to prevent
these evil consequences and to preserve their coal tonnage, were compelled to
intervene and assume control of the coal producing interest. In this way the
Schuylkill region was rescued from dilapidation by the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad Company. This event was not consummated until some years after the
period under consideration, but is alleged that the events of 1864 precipitated
the revolution.
Very
extensive sales were made of coal lands in 1864 at prices ruling much higher
than ever before, though some of the estates then sold commanded better prices
subsequently, when the pulse of the capitalist beat in its normal condition. The
purchase and sale of coal lands and collieries in 1864 were followed by a furor
for acts of incorporation. In the Schuylkill, Mahanoy and Shamokin regions
alone about fifty coal companies were organized in that year. Many of them were
organized for speculative purposes alone, and they had but an ephemeral
existence. Others, with substantial assets and healthy organizations, embarked
in the business of mining and selling coal under favorable auspices, followed
by considerable success.The price of anthracite coal on board vessels at Port
Richmond in 1864 ranged from $7.25 per ton in January to $11 in August,
declining to $8.50 in December. About the middle of September the trade became
dull, with receding prices. Shipments fell off heavily, and prices declined $2
per ton in one month. In August coal retailed in New York at $13 to $14 for
2,000 pounds.
The
commencement of the year was distinguished by a fresh installment of trouble in
Cass Township, at the mines of the Forest Improvement Company, which had commenced
in 1863. On the 16th of February Generals Couch and Sigel visited the region to
make inquiry into the state of affairs, which resulted in the beginning of
April in stationing a portion of the 10th regiment of New Jersey in Cass
Township, which restored order in that district.
BOATMEN'S GRIEVANCES AND TURNOUT OF
RAILROAD EMPLOYES.
A
difficulty occurred between the boatmen and the Schuylkill Navigation Company,
growing out of the fact that the fluctuations in the freights had heretofore
been an obstacle in making contracts for the delivery of coal by canal. The
navigation company proposed to enter into contracts with the boatmen to carry
coal at fixed rates of freight during the year, or at least for stated periods
of time, which would enable dealers to make contracts for the delivery of coal
by canal at fixed sums, the company collecting the freights, who would account
to the boatmen. The boatmen, however, regarded the project with great
hostility, and became very much excited upon the subject. They contended that
it would be giving all their privileges as individuals to the navigation
company, and they declared that a combination had been formed between the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company and the Schuylkill Navigation
Company, by which their interests were made identical.The rivalry between them
ceased, they alleged, because the business was sufficient for both-the
necessity for competition had passed away. The only obstacle to excessive
charges for freight, they believed, consisted in the fact that the boatmen of
the Schuylkill canal, being owners of the boats, could, upon the payment of the
tolls, as limited by the charter of the navigation company, carry the coal at
such rates as they deemed proper, and thereby enter into competition with both
the canal and the railroad company.The boatmen's idea of entering into
competition with the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company-"that
voracious and devouring monopoly"-for the conservation of the coal trade
was magnanimous, it was chivalrous. But even then it was too late.The fiat had
gone forth-although not fully revealed-that for weal or for woe the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company was destined to own and control the
Schuylkill coal trade, from the minutest filaments of the roots to the topmost
branches of the tree. The obstacles attempted to be interposed by the boatmen
to the plans of that ambitious and powerful company were never felt, and the
boatmen, before many years, were dependent upon that company for employment,
protection and support. There was a time when the boatmen exercised
considerable influence upon the coal trade.They were not so conservative then.
They exacted the last dollar from the trade that it would bear. The most
annoying branch of the business at that time was the freighting of boats on the
canal. But it is not generous to visit the sins of the fathers upon even the
second generation, and this second generation had been subjected to such a
crucial ordeal in past years as to merit public sympathy.
In
the first week of July 1864, a turnout of the engineers and brakemen on the
lateral railroads suspended the coal trade in the Schuylkill region. In
consequence of the interruption to the supply of coal for government use the
Reading railroad and its branches were seized for the military service of the
United States, and a new set of hands sent on from Washington to work the
lateral railroads. After two weeks demonstration of their strength-with parade
and flourish of banners, accompanied with music of drums and fife-the old hands
resumed their positions without having obtained the object of the strike.
PATRIOTIC OPERATORS.
The
great central fair for the Sanitary commission held in Philadelphia in 1864
afforded an opportunity to the liberal minded citizens of this country to show
their patriotism, benevolence, and charity. To Colonel Henry L. Cake, of the
St. Nicholas Colliery, in the Mahanoy region, belongs the honor of having
originated and set the example of making contributions in coal to this great
charity. No sooner was it known that he had set apart Saturday, May 14th, as
his contribution of a day's production of coal from his colliery for the
benefit of the fair than he was notified that the freight and toll would be
remitted for its passage over the Reading Railroad and the Little Schuylkill
Railroad, so that the good cause would receive the whole proceeds of the sale
of the coal. The coal-forty cars, containing 210 tons-was sold at the Corn
Exchange rooms in Philadelphia on Monday, the 16th of May. The proceeds
amounted to $1,605.20. The largest contribution made was by Davis Pearson &
Company, being half the proceeds of the sale of 101 cars of coal, amounting to
$1,830.61. In addition to the above we find the following reported from the
Schuylkill region. The total amount contributed from the anthracite regions was
$62,003.46.The employees of the following houses contributed the sums
mentioned: St Nicholas Colliery, $200; Wheeler, Miller & Co., $124.53;
J.& E. Sillyman, $125; Hammet, Vandusen & Co., $305; George W. Snyder,
$314.75; William Milnes, Jr., & Co., $511.50; J.M. Freck & Co.,
$154.85; T. Garretson & Co., $248.69. There were donated by T. Garretson
& Co. 41 cars of coal; J. & E. Sillyman added $200 to the gifts of
their employees mentioned above.
FLUCTUATIONS IN TRADE.
That
the inflated prices of all commodities in 1864 should recede as the rebellion
faded away was natural, and a transition state of trade generally was revealed
in 1865.The immediate effect of the restoration of peace was a partial paralysis
of the iron trade, and of the manufacture of cotton and woolen fabrics; and a
long list of supplies for the army and navy received a check to their
manufacture. This was followed by stagnation in the coal trade, and a decline
in prices to a point below the cost of production. The demand from the
government almost ceased, and from manufacturers it was very much diminished,
at a reduction in prices of over $2 per ton. To meet this great change, a new
basis of operations was necessary. A reduction in expenses was essential.Labor
was the principal element in the cost of producing coal, and the wages of labor
were out of proportion to the value of its productions. A reduction was
proposed of twenty-five to thirty-three per cent in wages, which was resisted.
A partial suspension of work at the collieries followed. Not until after two
months times were the terms of the reduction generally accepted.
The
depression in the trade continued until about the 1st of August, when business
began to revive, the demand for coal improved and prices advanced. The turnout
in the Lackawanna region, which caused a total cessation of mining for about
ten weeks, alarmed consumers during its progress, and stimulated the demand to
a degree that overtaxed the productive and transporting capacity of other
regions and again ran up the price of coal and labor. The loss in the supply of
coal, compared with that of the year 1864, which was over a million of tons on
the 1st of August, was reduced at the end of the year to 625,896 tons.So rapid
was the advance in wages that by the 1st of October they had risen $5 a week to
laborers, and about 55 cents a wagon for cutting coal by the cargo at
Philadelphia opened at $8.38 in January, declined to $6.03 in July, and
advanced to $8.93 in October, averaging for the year $7.86, as against $8.39 in
1864.
The
supply of coal from all the regions in 1866 was 12,432,835 tons-an excess of
the extraordinary amount of 2,945,097 tons over the supply of the previous
year.Of this excess 923,918 tons were from the Schuylkill
region.Notwithstanding the large production, the Schuylkill operators, in
consequence of the high rates of transportation and the great shrinkage in the
price of coal, did not find their business profitable. At the auction sales in
New York the prices of coal declined between January and December over $400 per
ton, and at Port Richmond the decline was during the same period $3 per ton.
The usual consequences of an oversupply affected the market after the first of
September. The operators were unable during this year to reduce the cost of
coal in proportion to its shrinkage in value.The high prices of all the
necessaries of life made it impossible to reduce the wages of common labor, and
the miners offered a resistance, combined and powerful, to any reduction. The
reduction in the price of coal, having been greater than on any other article,
bore heavily on the operators.
The
downward tendency of the prices of coal continued through 1867. Sales at Port
Richmond averaged for the year $4.37 per ton, as against $5.80 in 1866. The
auction sales in New York averaged for stove coal $2 less per ton than in the
previous year.The market for Schuylkill coal at competitive points was reduced
to a supply of what other regions could not furnish, unless furnished at a loss
which reduced the trade to a deplorable condition. The effect of the adverse
condition of the trade was a loss of coal tonnage during the year of 592,645
tons by the transporting companies from the Schuylkill region.The gloomy
prospects of the Schuylkill trade in 1867 caused great concern and apprehension
among the operators early in the season and a renewal of interest in a new,
direct and independent outlet to the New York and eastern markets. The
"Manufacturers and ConsumersÕ Anthracite Railroad Company" was
chartered in March 1866. A powerful effort was made in its behalf, but failed
of procuring the necessary support.
The
occurrence of a turnout in the Schuylkill region, beginning about the 1st of
July, 1868, and ending about the 1st of September-the object being the
establishment of the eight hours system of labor-saved the trade of that year
from disaster by curtailing the supply of coal during the suspension about
600,000 tons. At the New York auction sales the price for stove coal was $5.05
in July, and in October it was $9.05, receding in December to $6.50. The
speculative and extravagant price for stove coal manipulated at the auction
sales of Scranton coal taxed consumers heavily and proved detrimental to the
permanent interests of the producers.It created an excitement in the trade, and
induced the operatives at the mines to demand prices for work that could not be
afforded for any length of time, and which once granted could not be easily
reduced to a fair basis after the prices of coal had receded. The men claimed
participation in every rise and exemption in every fall. The strike for the
eight hours system of labor-which meant eight hours' work for ten hours' pay,
and amounted to twenty per cent advance in wages-was conducted with mob
demonstrations, by raiding through the region, driving men from their work, and
stopping collieries. The movement was a failure, the ten hours system
prevailing, but an advance in the price of coal having resulted from the
suspension of work, a corresponding advance in wages was paid.
WORKINGMEN'S BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION.
The
organization of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association on the 23d of July,
1868, followed very closely the violent demonstration made on the eight hour question,
and the conception of such a combination was no doubt due to the excitement
growing out of that event; it was then made apparent to the designing men who
manipulated the whole affair that a union of the working classes could be
formed, through which great power, influence, and pecuniary profit could be
made to accrue to themselves by arraying labor against capital. The title
assumed by the association was a misnomer and a deception to begin with; the
true object being not benevolence, but a purpose to establish and maintain a
high standard of wages, to get control of the property and the management of
the mines and to give effective force and aggrandizement to their proposed
aggressive movements against the coal operators.Had their object been to extend
beneficial aid to their members who were sick, disabled, or unfortunate, it
would have been a very exemplary charity, worthy of commendation; but we
believe the only contributions made by it in support of the members were during
the strikes precipitated by the leaders, when small sums were doled out in
order to prolong the contest.The power lodged in the officers was in its
exercise deleterious and oppressive to the laboring classes, blight upon their
industry, a tax upon their earnings, a hindrance to their comfort and welfare,
and a fruitful source of poverty, privation, and distress. The aggressiveness
of this association against the rights of the proprietors of the collieries was
practiced unceasingly; one exaction after another was imposed; the control of
the mining department of the business was usurped by the "committee
men," and their constant interference and frequent interruption of the
works entailed a great loss to the operators. They were unable to sustain
themselves against the successive strikes of the miners instigated by the
leaders of the association, and in two years many of them were virtually driven
out of the business. The Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company was
compelled by the destructive tendency of the acts of the miners to engage in
the business of mining, in order that the production of coal might continue to
meet the requirements of the market.The threatened disaster toward which the
Schuylkill coal trade was gravitating was thus averted, and the mad
conspirators, too powerful for the individual operators, were held in check by
that powerful corporation. A stubborn and prolonged contest ensued, culminating
in the strike of 1875, which terminated in the complete defeat and overthrow of
the Workingmen's Benevolent Association.The year 1869 was notable for the
excitement and agitation that prevailed throughout the anthracite coal regions,
induced by the aggressive movements of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association
or Miners' Union. This state of things caused prolonged interruptions in
mining, threatening a short supply of anthracite. The measures introduced by
these leaders were a suspension of mining for three weeks, with the ostensible
object of depleting the market of the stocks of coal lying over, and the
establishment of the "basis system," by which wages were to be
regulated by the prices of coal. In attempting to adjust the basis a difficulty
was encountered between the men and their employers, the miners demanding more
for their work as a starting point, than the prices of coal would warrant, in
the opinion of the operators.
On
the 29th of April 1869, the executive committee of the Workingmen's Benevolent
Association ordered a general suspension of work, to take place on the 10th of
May. The design was to suspend through all the regions and to continue three
weeks, but the men in the Lackawanna region did not join the movement, the
effect of which was to prolong the suspension. On the 9th of June, the general
council of the association ordered that on and after June 16th "all
districts and branches which can agree with their employers as to basis and
conditions of resumption do resume work." The result of the suspension was
a removal of the excess of coal in the market compared with the supply of the previous
year, with a deficiency of 105,809 tons. The curtailment amounted to 818,541
tons, of which 469,363 tons were from the Schuylkill region. If the average
value of this coal at the shipping ports in the region was $2.70 per ton, the
loss to the Schuylkill region was $1,267,280.
The
Schuylkill operators, not knowing the practical operation of the basis system,
agreed to try it as an experiment, providing that there should be no
"illegitimate interference with the working of the collieries." The
conditions of resumption having been agreed upon by the parties, and an
assurance having been given on the question of interference that no such right
was claimed by the miners' association, work was resumed in the Schuylkill
region.The basis accepted by the operators was proposed to them by the leaders
of the Miners' Union, and it met with considerable opposition from many
operators; but as all other efforts to control the trade had failed, and it
might be the means of preventing the chronic strikes which had operated so disastrously,
it was concluded to try the experiment. Thus, virtually, the operators
surrendered the control of their business by accepting the participation in its
management of the men in their employment. The three large companies in the
Lackawanna region persisted to the last in refusing to confer with their men on
the question of a basis. In their opinion the only question involved in the
issue was whether their property should be controlled and the policy of the
companies determined by the owners, or whether they should be committed to the
care and direction of an irresponsible organization. The Miners' Association
failed after a four-months strike, extending from the middle of May to the
middle of September, to establish the basis system in that region, but they
compelled the companies, by the action of the other regions, to make large
advances in wages. The effect of these interruptions to the trade was to run up
the price of coal to consumers, without benefiting the producers.Under the
operation of the basis system, the interference with the working of the
collieries continued through the local committees, who dictated who should be
employed and who discharged.
ANTHRACITE BOARD OF TRADE.
The
anthracite board of trade of the Schuylkill coal region was organized on the
19th of November 1869, with William Kendrick as president. It represented
4,437,000 tons of coal, and acted thereafter in all negotiations with the
workmen.
Upon
the resignation of Charles E. Smith, Esq., on the 28th of April 1869, as president
of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, Franklin B. Gowen was elected
as his successor. The election of Mr. Gowen met with the hearty approbation of
the Schuylkill operators, and we believe of every person connected with the
Schuylkill coal trade. From his knowledge of the coal business, his enlarged
and liberal views of men and things, his eminent ability and great business
capacity, the most exalted anticipations were indulged in as to the
characteristics and success of his administration. A strong hope was
inspired-which was not disappointed-that under his administration the producing
interest of the Schuylkill coal region would receive that consideration and
fostering support which had been withheld from it for many years.
From
the commencement of the anthracite coal trade to the 1st of January, 1870, the
quantity of anthracite coal sent to market from all the regions was 190,058,685
tons, of which from the Schuylkill region, 82,030,232 tons; the Shamokin
region, 6,584,523; the Lehigh region, 36,564,177; the Wyoming region,
64,879,753; total, 190,058,685.
A
comparison of the quantity of anthracite coal furnished by the different
regions in the decade ending with the year 1859, and the decade ending with the
year 1869, shows that the Schuylkill region furnished 12 per cent less of the
whole supply in the latter decade, than it did in the former, although its
tonnage was augmented 36 per cent. When we consider the disadvantages of the
Schuylkill coal trade during the ten years prior to 1870, the formidable and
somewhat adventurous and speculative competition encountered in the market, the
oppressive and illiberal policy of the transporting companies and the baleful
influence of the so-called Workingmen's Benevolent Association, it is surprising
that its position in the trade was so well sustained.
The
year 1870 was one of the most unfortunate years in the Schuylkill coal trade
since the breakdown in 1857.Mining operations were suspended from the first of
April to the first of August, while negotiating for a basis of wages.The miners
claimed the wages of 1869, based upon $3 per ton for coal at Port Carbon, as a
minimum. The operators declared that experience had proven conclusively that
the basis of $3 per ton was entirely too high to permit Schuylkill coal to
compete with the large companies in the Lackawanna region. Mr. Gowen, at the
request of both parties, settled the difficulty under the terms of what became
known as the "Gowen compromise," which was the $3 basis, but sliding
down as well as up with the change in the price of coal. The price averaged for
the year $2.45 at Port Carbon, and the wages fell below the rates offered by
the operators in February. The loss in production, compared with that of the
previous year, was 782,578 tons.
LEASE OF THE SCHUYLKILL NAVIGATION.
Upon
the 12th of July 1870, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company leased the
Schuylkill navigation.
On
the 7th of November 1870, the committees representing the Anthracite Board of
Trade and the Workingmen's Benevolent Association met in Pottsville to arrange
the terms of a basis for wages in 1871. An agreement was signed and ratified,
based upon $2.50 per ton as the price of coal at Port Carbon. It was a
judicious arrangement, which had it been adhered to, would have operated
beneficially to all interests involved; but it was repudiated subsequently by
the leaders of the Miners' Union, in order that the association might join in
the strike of their fellow members in the Lackawanna region. A general
suspension was ordered by the general council of the association, to commence
on the 10th of January, and on the 25th of January the delegates of the
association in Schuylkill County resolved to adhere to the $3 basis. This
course was in violation of good faith, and it satisfied the public that the
leaders were unworthy of confidence.Great opprobrium was brought upon the
association and its officers. The union could be no longer regarded as a
protection to labor, but as an engine for its oppression. Its iniquities became
known of all men, and the necessity for its suppression, as an enemy to the
business interests and prosperity of the coal regions, became generally
acknowledged.The suspension of work continued for four months, the region being
kept in a state of agitation and excitement in the meanwhile.All other efforts
to make an arrangement having failed, the difficulty was referred to a board of
arbitration, with Judge William Elwell as umpire. On the question of
interference with the working of the mines the umpire rendered a decision
adverse to the claims of the miners, and on the question of wages a scale of
wages was adopted based upon $2.75 per ton for coal at Port Carbon.
PHILADELPHIA AND READING COAL AND IRON
COMPANY.
The
average price at Port Carbon for the eight months of the year after the
adoption of the $2.75 per ton basis was $2.61 per ton.
In
1870 the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company was organized as an
auxiliary of the railroad company. The new company purchased during the year
seventy thousand acres of coal lands in Schuylkill County. "The result of
this action has been to secure-and attach to the company's railroad-a body of
coal land capable of supplying all the coal tonnage that can possibly be transported
over the road for centuries."The amount of coal sent to market in 1872 was
19,371,953 tons, an excess of 3,579,475 over the supply of the previous year.
From the Schuylkill region the supply was 5,355,341 tons, 81,130 more than in
the previous year. There was no interruption to the production in 1872 by
strikes. The basis of wages was arranged on the 6th of January and adhered to
throughout the year.The arrangement was based upon $2.50 per ton at Port
Carbon, and the wages were not to go below that with a decline in the price of
coal except in April and May, and then not below the rates based on $2.25 per
ton. The arrangement operated unfavorably to the operators. The average price
for the year was $2.14 per ton, or 46 cents per ton less than in 1871, while
the wages were higher than in that year, with a $2.75 basis. The
"basis" adopted for 1872 amounted virtually to a surrender of their
business interests by the operators, to a formidable and antagonistic labor
combination. The consequence was that they crippled themselves, while they
invigorated their enemies. So reduced did many of them become that the Reading
Railroad Company, to enable them to continue their production and supply the
railroad with tonnage, found it expedient to advance money on mortgage to them.
"Our
first intention," said Mr. Gowen, "was never to mine a ton of coal.
The idea was that the ownership of these lands would be sufficient to attach
the tonnage to us, and that we could get individuals to mine the coal at a
rent. That was the policy inaugurated by the company, and to develop it they
expended eight or nine hundred thousand dollars, simply in loans to individuals
to enable them to get into business. We built collieries, rented them to
individuals and advanced money on mortgage; and had it not been for the
terrible demoralization of labor in the coal regions, resulting in strikes,
individuals would have been able to do all that we wanted.But we had, during
the time I speak of, a succession or strikes which entirely destroyed individual
enterprise. There was no man who had the capital to stand up against them; six
months out of a year they were idle, and we saw that we had to take the bull by
the horns and go into the business of mining ourselves.There was nothing else
for us to do. We tried honestly and sincerely for nearly eighteen months to
develop these lands and work them by individual enterprise; nay, more than
that, when we found that would not do, in several instances we opened the
collieries and associated men of know experience with us as partners in mining,
and let them have the business; but that was also unsuccessful, and we had to
take hold of the coal trade as we took hold of the railroad-establish ourselves
in it as a large corporation, with fixed rules."In no previous year was
the anthracite coal trade so judiciously and systematically governed as in
1873. Indeed it may be said that never before had the trade been governed in
union and harmony, and with the co-operation and accord of the great
representative interests in all regions. The trade, heretofore so capricious
and ungovernable, was subjected to complete discipline and control. Under the
title of the "Associated Coal Companies" an organization was formed,
composed of the large mining and transporting companies, for the purpose of
proportioning the supply of coal at competitive points to the demand, and to
regulate the prices of coal during the year so as to secure remuneration to the
producers. The plan was to establish prices at the opening of the spring trade
in March at the lowest rates on board vessels at the shipping ports, and to
raise the prices ten cents per ton every month until the close of the year. By
virtue of this arrangement the coal trade remained prosperous throughout the
year, with prices fully maintained, notwithstanding the monetary panic, the
opposition of the coal brokers and the clamor of the press against the
"combination."The question of wages in the Schuylkill region for the
year 1873 was arranged on a basis of $2.50 per ton at Port Carbon as a minimum.
It operated well, because the Associated Coal Companies prevented coal from
receding below the basis price. The price of coal averaged for the year $2.58
per ton, or forty-four cents per ton more than in the preceding year. The
production of coal in the Schuylkill region was 314,081 tons in excess of that
of the previous year.
In
1873 the consolidation of coals at Port Richmond for shipment known as the
"pool" was put into operation. By this system which was a commingling
of coals from different collieries to save expense in handling and vending-the
Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company undertook, at a greatly reduced
cost, the shipping and selling of the coal of the producers. In the same year
the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company embarked in the retail coal
business in the city of Philadelphia, having built yards and depositories of
great capacity.
The
following were the essential features of the program of the Associated Coal
Companies for the government of the anthracite coal trade to competitive points
in 1874:Tonnage to competitive points for ten months from February 1st to
November 30th inclusive to be 10,000,000 tons, and to be distributed among the
six interests in the same proportion as that adopted in February, 1873, for the
business of that years, viz.: To the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company,
2,585,000 tons; Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, 1,598,000; Central Railroad of
New Jersey, 1,615,000; Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, 1,837,000; Delaware Lackawanna
and Western Railroad Company, 1,380,000; Pennsylvania Coal Company, 985,000. It
was recommended that prices should open in March, 1874, at an average of
fifteen cents per ton above the opening prices of 1873, and thereafter advance
as follows: say in April five cents, May ten cents, and July, August,
September, October and November each fifteen cents per ton.
The
great depression in all manufacturing industries in 1874, and especially of the
iron trade, diminished the consumption of coal for manufacturing purposes and
caused considerable stagnation in the coal trade. Of the 662 furnaces in
existence in 1873 only 410 were in blast on the 1st of January 1874, and only
382 at the close of the year, showing the great prostration of that interest.The
coal trade moved very sluggishly from the start, and the Associated Coal
Companies soon found it necessary to curtail the allotment of tonnage to
competitive points.Instead of 10,000,000 tons there were only 8,248,928 sent to
competitive points. In the mean time the program was carried out in regard to
advancing prices. In the Schuylkill region, the basis of wages for 1873 was
continued. The average price at Port Carbon for the year was $2.60.
REDUCTION OF WAGES AND THE "LONG
STRIKE."
The
supply of anthracite coal in 1874 from all the regions fell off 774,333 tons
from that of 1873; of this decrease 327,382 tons was from the Schuylkill
region.
A
general reduction of wages was determined upon in all anthracite regions in
1875 by virtue of imperative necessity.The shrinkage in value of nearly all
commodities since the crisis of 1873 had produced a corresponding reduction in
the wages of labor; coal could not be made an exception to the general rule to
enable the producers to pay war prices to their operatives; the time for short
hours and $5 a day had passed away, and the miners like other men were required
to be industrious and frugal.A reduction of ten per cent in wages had already
been made and accepted in the Lackawanna region. The coal operators in the Schuylkill
region, after careful study of the situation-the market being overstocked with
coal., one half the furnaces in the country being out of blast, and
manufacturers of all kinds running half or quarter time if at all-concluded
that to reduce the price of coal, as was demanded to start the furnaces and
manufactories, there must be a corresponding reduction in wages.Accordingly the
following scale of wages for the year 1875 was decided upon as an ultimatum:
Outside wages-first class, $1.50 per day; second class, $1.35; all inside work
to be on a basis system-basis $2.50 per ton at Port Carbon; inside labor and
miners' wages to be reduced ten per cent below the rates of 1874; contract work
to be reduced twenty per cent; one per cent on inside work to be paid in
addition to the basis rate for every three cents advance in the price of coal
above $2.50 per ton; and one per cent., to be deducted from the basis rate for
every three cents decline in the price of coal below $2.50 per ton at Port
Carbon. No maximum and no minimum.The wages in 1874 were: for miners, $13 per
week; inside labor, $11 per week; outside labor, $10 per week, when the price
of coal was $2.50 per ton at Port Carbon and to rise one cent to every three
cents advance in the price of coal above $2.50 per ton. These terms were
submitted to a committee of the Miners and Laborers' Benevolent Association on
the 1st of January 1875. After some discussion they were rejected, and an order
issued by the officers of the association that work at the mines should be
stopped immediately. Thus was inaugurated the celebrated "long
strike" of 1875. The conflict of labor against capital, which had been
prosecuted so aggressively through the agency of the Workingmen's Benevolent
Association ever since its organization, reached a decisive issue this year,
after a six months; struggle of the most determined character that had yet
taken place, culminating in the overthrow of the miners' combinations and the
permanent rescue of the property of the proprietors of the collieries from the
arbitrary control of an irresponsible trade union; as well as the emancipation
of the workingmen themselves from the power of the political and professional
agitators who had so long controlled them. In this prolonged and bitter contest
the workingmen-or those who assumed to act for them-resorted to their usual
methods during strikes, of intimidation, violence, outrage, incendiarism and
assassination.A reign of terror prevailed, unchecked for a period, throughout
the anthracite coalfields. The pernicious combination of the miners had
fastened itself like an incubus upon the coal-producing interest, and the
individual operators were too weak to cast it off; but the strikers now had to
contend with the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company as well.
At
the end of the strike, in the middle of June, there was a deficiency in the
supple of coal, compared with that of the previous year to the corresponding
period, of 2,400,000 tons, nearly all of which was made up by the end of the
year.The decrease from the Schuylkill region, however, was 689,011 tons. The
prices were maintained, with monthly advances, by the Board of Control of the
Associated Coal Companies.The prices in November, compared with those of
November 1874, show a reduction of fifty cents per ton on lump, steamer and
broken sizes, twenty-five cents on egg and thirty-five cents on stove.The wages
of the men working on the sliding scale varied from two to six per cent above
the basis of $2.50 per ton for coal at Port Carbon.
THE COAL TRADE IN 1877, 1878 AND 1879.
Mining
operations were brought to a close in the Schuylkill region in 1875 on the
first of December, the market being fully supplied, and the wharves at Port
Richmond and all other depositories overflowing with coal. Before the trade of
1876 could begin to move a large depletion of the stocks on hand was absolutely
necessary. Consequently, there was very little coal mined until the following
April, and in two months afterward such stagnation prevailed that suspensions were
ordered every alternate week by the Coal Exchange, and the Board of Control of
the Associated Coal Companies reduced the monthly allotments. The peculiar
condition of the coal trade this year, arising from the under-consumption of
coal, caused by the general prostration of industrial interests, seemed to
indicate the necessity for a regulating and controlling power in the management
to a greater degree than had ever existed before, and it was with unconcealed
apprehension that the coal operators received the intelligence of the
dissolution of the organization called the Associated Coal Companies, on the
22nd of August.Following the disruption of the association was the sacrifice of
half a million of tons of coal at public auction, at prices that would not pay
the freight to deliver it, and about $2.50 below the August circular rates. New
schedules of prices were announced, based on an approximation to this great
reduction; transportation was lowered correspondingly, and the wages of the
operatives were reduced fifteen twenty-five per cent to meet the changed
circumstances.Operators worked their collieries experimentally, to solve the
problem whether the loss would be greater to work or to stand idle.
FREE COMPETITION VS. ASSOCIATION.
The
average price received for coal during 1877 on board vessels at Philadelphia
was $2.41 per ton, or about $1 per ton less than the lowest prices previously
known, and about the value of the coal in the coal region. The only
compensation to be expected from these low rates was the extension given to the
consumption of anthracite coal by its entrance into new markets and by the
stimulus it afforded manufacturing industries. The amount of anthracite sent to
market this year was 20,828,179 tons, an excess of 2,327,168 tons over the
supply of the previous year. The amount sent from the Schuylkill and Shamokin
regions was 8,195,042 tons, 1,973,108 more than in the previous year.The coal
tonnage of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, including 152,742
tons of bituminous coal was 7,255,317 tons, an excess of 1,660,111 over that of
the previous year. These figures represent a heavy trade, and they likewise
represent a heavy loss to the producer. So dissatisfied were the producers with
the result of "free competition" in 1877 that another combination was
formed on the 16th of January 1878, for the government of the trade of that
year. The immediate effect was to advance prices of coal fifty cents per ton. A
large curtailment of production was determined upon during the winter months,
which was effected by suspension of work at the collieries. The following
percentages of the coal tonnage were allotted to the several
interests:Philadelphia and Reading, 28.625; Lehigh Valley, 19.75; New Jersey
Central, 12.905; Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, 12.75; Delaware and Hudson,
12.48; Pennsylvania Railroad, 7.625; Pennsylvania Coal Company, 5.865. The
trade was very dull, and the association of coal companies was unable to secure
for coal a sufficiently increased price to compensate for the great restriction
of production found necessary, and consequently the anticipations formed of
profits to result from the combination were not realized. The operation of
restricting the production of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron
Company, and its effect upon the business of that company and the railroad
company, is exhibited the following table:
_________________________________________________________________
COAL TONNAGE
----------------------------------------------------------------
RAILROAD
MINED
BY COAL
AND IRON CO.
MONTH TONS CWT TONS
CWT
------------------------------------------------------------------
Dec., 1877 647,727
03 361,829 06
Jan., 1878 231,323
11 96,935
03
Feb.," 173,462
01 65,680 18
Mar.," 229,260
00 89,324 06
April, " 408,620 09 180,983 03
May," 513,614 04 240,057 06
June," 754,653 15 333,193 06
July," 440,722 04
191,880 03
Aug.," 683,076 15 341,129 03
Sept., " 327,539 15 139,736 11
Oct.," 695,332 10 299,268 02
Nov.," 803,807 17 378,590 14
--------- --
---------- --
5,909,140 04 2,727,608 01
Chart above is continued below...follow lines
across by date
COST OF COAL NET
PROFIT AND LOSS OF
MINED BY COAL OF
BOTH COMPANIES.
AND IRON CO.
MONTH AT
BREAKER PROFIT LOSS.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dec., 1877 $0.95 1-10
$400,488.23
Jan., " 2.38 $107,652.9
Feb., " 3.12 9-10
236,174.82
Mar., " 2.16
4
-10 87,638.98
April, " 1.26
7
-10 197,955.31
May," 1.14
484,165.83
June, " 1.07 5
-10 688,588.15
July, " 1.36 7
-10 211,695.28
Aug., " 1.10 8
-10 588,660.14
Sept., " 1.49 5-
10 ,522.43
Oct., " 1.10 5-10
688,281.10
Nov., " .91 8
–10 956,283.03
------- ------- ---------- --------
$1.23 7
10 $4,213,117.07
$438,989.14
_________________________________________________________________
The
above table indicated that in open competition for the market, with the
admitted excellence and great variety of Schuylkill coal, and no restriction imposed
upon production, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company had no cause to
fear any of its competitors in the coal trade. But it does not follow that the
restrictions imposed upon production in 1878 were not necessary and beneficial
to the trade generally. The benefits resulting from the "combination"
were the actual consumption of all surplus coal and the ability to secure fair
prices in the future, which it was impossible to obtain so long as the large
production kept the market overstocked.
The
amount of anthracite coal sent to market in 1878 was 17,605,262 tons, a
decrease of 3,222,917 from the supply of 1877. The amount of coal sent to
market from the Schuylkill, Mahanoy and Shamokin regions in 1878 was 6,282,226
tons, a decrease of 1,912,816 from the supply of the preceding year. The
decrease in the coal tonnage of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company
in 1878 compared with that of 1877 was 1,346,177 tons.
The
restriction of production in 1878 made room for and rendered profitable the
extraordinary production of 1879.In the latter year the trade was much
improved, the demand active at low prices, and the consumption largely
increased; but the supply of coal was excessive, and the result of the year's
operations afforded another example of the irrepressible tendency of the
producing interest to over production. In 1879 the Schuylkill region produced
8,960,329 tons, 2,678,103 more than in 1878; the Lehigh region 4,595,567 tons,
an increase of 1,358,118 over 1878; and the Wyoming region 12,586,293 tons,
4,500,706 above the production of 1878; total 26,142,189 tons, an increase of
8,536,927 over 1878. The coal tonnage of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
in 1879 was 8,147,580 tons, an excess of 2,238,440 tons over that of 1878.
The aggregate
amount of anthracite coal sent to market from the year 1820-the beginning of
the trade-to the 1st of January 1880 was 384,023,046 tons. Of this amount
155,693,353 tons were from the Schuylkill region, 7,415,446 from the Lehigh
region, and 156,903,247 from the Wyoming region. In this statement the
Schuylkill region is credited with all the coal sent to market and reported
from the Southern or Schuylkill coal field (except the eastern end of the
basin, which has its outlet by the Lehigh), from the Mahanoy district, and from
Columbia and Northumberland counties; the Lehigh region is credited with all
the coal sent to market and reported from the eastern end of the Southern
coal-field and from the detached basins in the middle coal field; the Wyoming region
is credited with all the coal sent to market and reported from the Northern
coal field. The amount of anthracite coal produced and not reported was at
least 20,000,000 tons, making the aggregate production 404,012,246 tons.
According to the estimate of Professor P.W. Sheafer we still have, after
allowing sixty-six per cent for waste, 8,786,858,666 tons to send to market. By
the year 1900 we will reach our probable maximum annual production of
50,000,000 tons, and will finally exhaust the supply in 186 years. At the rate
of production in 1879 the Northern coal field is being rapidly exhausted: the
Middle coal field will cease extensive mining in about twenty years; and the
source of supply beyond that period will be largely from the Southern coal
field in the deep basins of Schuylkill county.
pp 83 - 93
THE RAILROAD SYSTEM
OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
The
railroad system of Schuylkill county embraces a network of roads more extensive
and intricate than that of any other region of equal extent in the country.
These roads ramify in all parts of the county where coal is mined, follow the
windings of the streams through the many valleys and ravines, climb the
mountains, over planes or by winding along their sides, or pass under them
through tunnels. They enter the mines, to all parts of which they extend; and
it is a well known fact that a greater number of miles of railroad run beneath
the surface than above it in this county. Like the ramifications of the
vascular system of an animal, these branches unite in a few main lines, which
carry to the different markets the immense amounts of coal that are brought to
them from the mines to which the branches extend.
The
development of the railroad system in this county has kept even pace with the
growth of the mining interest. As elsewhere stated, the Schuylkill navigation
was projected with the view, mainly, of affording an outlet for the lumber
which had before been taken to market from this region in rafts, and a means of
transportation, in connection with the Center turnpike, of the commerce between
the Susquehanna region and Philadelphia. The coal trade was then in its
infancy; and the most sanguine did not dream of the growth which it was to acquire,
or look forward to the time when it would constitute more than a considerable
item in the business of the navigation. A few of the projectors foresaw an
increasing trade; and in 1817 the managers, in an address, stated that probably
"coal might one day be carried along the Schuylkill to the amount of ten
thousand tons per annum;" but, in the absence of any prevision of the
importance which the coal trade has since assumed, many prudent men looked on
the scheme as a visionary project, that would be beneficial to a few
speculators and stock gamblers, but not a permanent source of advantage to the
public, or of wealth to the stockholders.
For
a few years after the completion of the navigation the coal which was carried
over it was brought to the boats in wagons by teams. In 1827 a railway nine
miles in length was built, to connect some coal mines with the Lehigh
navigation at Mauch Chunk. It has been stated by many historians that this was
the first railroad in Pennsylvania, and the second in the United States; but
such is not the fact. In 1826 Abraham Potts, now living at Port Carbon, built
the pioneer railroad in the state. This road was half a mile in length, from
his mine to the head of navigation at the mouth of Mill creek. It had wooden
rails, and the cars running on it carried each 1-1/2 tons of coal. It proved a
success; and after it had been in operation some two years the place was
visited by some of the managers of the Schuylkill navigation to see the new
method of carriage. Mr. P. had thirteen cars loaded, ready to take to the
canal. When they saw him fasten a single horse to the foremost car, they asked
him if he proposed to "draw a ton and a half with one horse." When
they saw this one animal easily move the train of thirteen cars, with about
twenty tons, to the canal, their astonishment was great. Mr. Potts told them
that in ten years they would see coal taken from these mines to Philadelphia in
cars over a railroad. They replied that if he came to the city they would find
a place for him in an insane asylum, for he was certainly crazy. Eleven tears
saw the fulfillment of the prediction. It may be remarked here that the cars
which Mr. Potts used were unloaded through the bottom, instead of by dumping,
and that the wheels were fixed on the axles. He was the originator of both
these plans, which have since been almost universally adopted.
As soon as the practicability of
railroads for transporting coal from mines to the navigation came to be demonstrated
such roads began to spring into existence. After the completion of the
Schuylkill navigation other navigation companies were chartered, for the
utilization of the waters of other streams, but supplementary acts authorized
railroads instead of these navigations, and nothing was done under the original
charters. In 1826 the first act authorizing the construction of a railroad in
this county was passed. This was followed in 1828 and 1829 by others, and in
the latter year portions of several were in operation. These roads were
operated by horses or mules, and by the conditions of their charters were
highways, over which the cars and freight of any one might be taken, on the
payments of the tolls, which were prescribed or limited by the charters. In 1833
two locomotives, named the Comet and the Spitfire, were placed on the Little
Schuylkill Railroad, and afterward locomotives came into use on other roads. On
roads where motive power was used the law prescribed regulations for the tolls
on freight drawn by the locomotives of the company or individuals. It was not
at first the design of the people through their representatives to grantto
these railroad companies privileges of exclusive transportation on their roads,
but these companies have come to exercise and even claim that privilege,
without the sanction of legislative enactments.
Of the reciprocal influence upon each
other of the coal and railroad interests in this county it is hardly necessary
to speak; for it is evident to every one that neither could have been
developed, to its present extent, without the other. It is also unnecessary to
allude to the combination of these interests, and to the effect of such
combination on the prosperity of the county; for these subjects are before the
people here in a practical form. During many years there have been in this
county a growing tendency toward the combination or concentration of capita in
important branches of trade and industry, and the smothering of healthful
competition.
The following history of one of the most
important roads in this county, by one whose relation to it gave him a thorough
knowledge of everything pertaining to it, will, at the same time, illustrate
the development of the railroad system here, the experiences which the builders
of railroads have encountered, and the improvements which have been made since
the first rude and somewhat awkward structures were built. Comparatively little
will be said of other roads that would not be repetition of portions of this
history. Nearly all the roads in the county have, by purchase, lease or
otherwise, been absorbed by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company.
MINE HILL RAILROAD
By R.A.Wilder
What are known as the lateral railroads
of Schuylkill county were first constructed to accommodate the Schuylkill canal
with a coal tonnage from the district south of the Mine hill and east of the
west branch, covering an area of between sixty and seventy square miles.
Previous to the construction of the laterals, the coal openings had been made in
the immediate vicinity of the canal; no one was more than half a mile distant,
and the tracks running to the loading place were no more than an extension of
the mine roads a short distance beyond the mouths of the drifts. The mine
tracks were very primitive. They consisted of notched cross ties (sleepers) on
which a wooden rail, three by four or four by six inches, was laid and fastened
by wooded keys driven in by the side of the rail. The gauge of the track was
made to suit the fancy of the owner, but the average was forty inches. The mine
cars held about a ton of coal and slate, and the wheels were loose upon the
axle, like those of a wagon. There was usually a platform upon which the coal
was dumped for the purpose of separating the impurities before loading, as
breakers had not then been introduced. The pure coal went into the boats as it
cane from the mines; large and small sizes were intermingled, and the consumer
in that day had to break it to suit himself. Could that method have been
continued through the intervening years, a hundred millions of dollars would
have been shared by the land owner, and miner and transporter.
The
Mill Creek Railroad, extending from Port Carbon to the vicinity of St. Clair,
was commenced in 1829. It had a forty-inch single track and was built much like
the mine tracks just described.
The
Schuylkill Valley Railroad was also commenced the same year, and finished in
1830. This line runs from Port Carbon to Tuscarora - ten miles-and was at first
a double forty-inch track, costing about $6,000 per mile.
The
Norwegian and Mt. Carbon Railroad was built about the same time and extended
from navigation at Mt. Carbon to the several coal mines northwest of
Pottsville. This road had a common gauge of 56 1/2 inches and was built in a more
substantial manner than either of the first-named lines. The first three miles
were double track, and the balance single track so arranged as to accommodate a
large traffic.
The
Little Schuylkill Railroad, extending from Port Clinton to Tamaqua-twenty-two
miles-was built subsequently to most of the others and is mentioned in this
connection only because it formed a part of the lateral system of the county.
It had gauge of 56 1/2 inches.
The most important of all the laterals
is the Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad, which extends from Schuylkill
Haven to the coal fields north and south of the Broad mountain, and enters by
short branches every ravine of the mountains and other suitable places for
locating a colliery. It was first projected by a few landowners who were
desirous of developing their properties and obtaining revenues therefrom. The
original charter was approved by J. Andrew Schulze, governor of Pennsylvania,
on the 24th day of March, 1828. Several amendments and supplements have been made
since to meet the expanding trade and provide facilities for moving the
tonnage, that grew year by year.
The
company was organized on the 21st of May, 1828. The amount of stock subscribed
was only $13,000, on which ten per cent. was paid into the treasury. With this
small sum of $13,000 the company began the construction of a road that
ultimately covered, like a network, more than one hundred square miles of the
anthracite coal fields. The treasury was empty before the preliminary work had
been accomplished, and then efforts were made to obtain subscriptions to the
whole capital stock of $25,000. The managers took it individually, but soon
found it to be entirely inadequate to the undertaking, and then restored to the
plan that has wrecked so many enterprises and individuals in this country; they
endorsed the notes of the company and were obliged to protect then individually
when they fell due. This condition could not continue, and the managers availed
themselves of the power conveyed in the charter to increase the capital stock
to $100,000, by a vote of the stockholders; a part of this additional stock was
taken by parties interested in the completion of the work, but a large amount
of money was still needed, and capitalists were invited to make up the
requisite sum on the security of a mortgage upon the road. With the funds thus
obtained the road was finished, and in April, 1831, the first coal passed over
it. The cost of the loan at this time was $185,783.02, of which $68,450 was
stock and $117,333 was borrowed money. Of course this amount was far beyond all
estimates of the projectors of the work and such engineers as laid out the
line. In the eight months following April, 1831, seventeen thousand five
hundred and fifty-nine tons of coal were transported over the road, which was
esteemed a food beginning; and one sanguine gentleman predicted the time when
as much as a hundred thousand tons would be carried, and was laughed at as a
visionary. More than two millions per annum have since been carried as an
earnest of his prophecy.
The engineers of that period had little
knowledge of railway construction, and it was well they had not, for few of the
early lines would have been built. An estimate of $50,000 per mile would have
scared the capitalists more than an attempted burglary. Such estimates as they
did make were wide of the mark, and consequently the construction proceeded by
degrees, and funds were obtained in the same way, and each succeeding effort
encouraged to more vigor, till finally the line would be opened to traffic and
rosy reports circulated then as now to induce investments in the stock or
loans.
The
line followed the sinuous valley of the west branch, and as near grade as
possible: consequently it was altogether a succession of curves of small radii,
simple and compound, with a few connecting tangents. The bridges were frequent,
and consisted of untrussed stringers placed four or five feet above the water.
The railroad track was made by laying cross-ties four feet apart, and placing
in the notched ends an oak rail, three by seven inches, on which was spiked a
strap of iron about fifteen feet long, and one and a-half inches wide by
three-eights thick, which was designed for the wearing surface. The locomotive
had not then entered into the dreams of those builders, and horsepower was
employed to haul the cars. The road soon reached the highest expectations of
the owners, and in the second year the tonnage equaled 65,420 tons. All doubts
vanished, and a dividend of seven per cent. was declared from the surplus after
paying interest and all indebtedness. All the loans that could be converted
were changed to stock. The capital was increased to $2000,000 by an act passed
in January, 1831, and all the indebtedness was allowed to take the form of stock.
The year 1833 was also very prosperous, and the tonnage increased to
seventy-seven thousand tons, which served to increase the sanguine views of the
owners to a greater extent than ever before. But the following year brought
great commercial embarrassment and heavy losses to nearly every department of
trade, and as a consequence the traffic of the Mine Hill Railroad was reduced
to 42,616 tons, the income from which was barely sufficient to pay interest on
its debt, leaving nothing for dividends. The recovery from depression was
rapid, and the traffic was increased again in 1835 to 66,000 tons, and in 1836
to over 107,000 tons. This increase indicated a healthy demand for coal, and
many land owners and operators desired extensions of the road to the lands
where their interests centered, but the company had no capital for that
purpose. To remedy this an act was approved the 29th of March, 1836,
authorizing an increase of capital to $4000,000; at the same time power was
given to put locomotives on the road but the company did not use this privilege
till about ten years later.
The policy of the company was one of
progress, keeping pace with the gradually increasing demands of an expanding
market and the efforts of the land owners and operators to meet it. After
constructing branches to most of the available points south of the Broad
mountain and west of Pottsville, as far as Tremont and Mt. Eagle, they asked to
extend their main line across the formidable barrier of the Broad mountain into
the Middle coal field. The effort to do this had once before been made in the
partial construction of the Girard Railroad on a very bad system of inclined
planes, which proved an absolute failure and was abandoned altogether.
Just previous to the time the application
for what has been known as the "Ashland Extension" was made, several
important changes had taken place in the management, and in the mode of working
the road. The increase in tonnage from 1844 to 1847 made it necessary to
substitute locomotives for horse power, so as to decrease the great number of
trains, that then obstructed the road. A firmer and better track was found
necessary also, and a general modification of the line took place for the
reception of steam engines. This consisted mainly of stronger and wider
bridges, planting the double tracks farther apart to make room for the passing
of trains with broader coal cars and locomotives, and in substituting heavier
rails to support the greater weight upon the wheels and increased speed.
The Tremont extension was finished in
1847; and in May, 1848, a much more extensive project was undertaken by the
company. Many land owners in the Middle coal field had petitioned the company
to open their coal field to the eastern market by continuing their main line up
the west branch and across the Broad mountain, at a point about 1,520 feet
above tide at Philadelphia. The surveys were commenced of the 25th of May,
1848, at the summit between Rattling run and Dyer's run.
S.W. Roberts, Esq., of Philadelphia, was
chief engineer, and R.A. Wilder principal assistant. Soon after the beginning
of the work Mr. Roberts was appointed chief engineer of the Pennsylvania and
Ohio Railroad (now Pittsburg and Fort Wayne), and left the field work in charge
of the principal assistant. The surveys covered the region between the
Schuylkill and the water sheds of the Susquehanna a few miles below Shamokin,
where connection was made with the old Sunbury and Pottsville Railroad, which
was the western portion of the Girard Railroad before referred to. The crest
lines were about ten miles in length on the Broad mountain. At that time the
whole region was densely wooded, and, with the exception of a few farm houses
here and there, miles apart, uninhabited. The work of the surveying parties was
exceedingly laborious on account of the long distances walked morning and
evening to and from the lines. It was necessary to finish the surveys within a
specified time required by the terms of the supplement to the charter, so that
the company could determine the question of accepting, or not, the provisions
of the act. The preliminary work for an accurate topographical map had consumed
much of the time, and the final location had to be pushed in a manner very
exhausting to the party. An approximate estimate of the cost showed that the
authorized capital was inadequate, and the company concluded not to accept the
supplement.
This line had two inclined planes on the
north of the mountain to hoist the loaded cars by stationery machines. The ascending
grades to the summit along the southern slope were an average of eighty-four
feet to the mile. This line followed the underlying strata of the coal
measures, and consequently avoided the danger of the cavings on the coal seams
which have given so much trouble on the line built a few years later and which
is now being operated.
At the close of these surveys Mr. Wilder
was appointed resident engineer, and immediately began surveys of the main line
for the purpose of straightening it wherever practicable. In this way much of
the old line was rebuilt and improved in every respect. The standard width
between the tracks was made six feet, which has since been very generally
adopted on all lines of railway having a double track. On the first of January,
1849, Mr. Wilder became superintendent of the road, and later in the same year
he took entire charge of the machinery and transportation (in addition to his
former duties) with title of chief engineer and superintendent. Between 1849
and 1852 many improvements were made in the old tracks, and the Swatara and
Middle creek branches were built. At the session of the Legislature of 1852 an
act was passed which again authorized the construction of the Ashland
extension, with an increase of capital not exceeding $500,000. At that period
of time the Legislature was exceedingly jealous of corporate bodies, and rarely
gave sufficient capital to pay the cost of the authorized to be done.
Edward F. Gay was appointed engineer of
construction, and in April, 1852, began a resurvey of the line located in 1848.
Unfortunately for the company his desire to reduce the former estimates of
costs induced him to increase the grades to ninety-three per mile in order to
diminish the distance to the summit, which brought his line on the outcrop of
the veins of coal in the vicinity of Glen Carbon for a long distance. The
results has been disastrous in the extreme. Frequent falls of the surface have
taken place at various points, causing interruptions to the traffic, and
entailing heavy expenditure for repairs, litigation, and re-location of the
road. The line was opened on the 16th of September, 1864, by passing an engine
and train of coal cars, with one small passenger car attached, from Cressona to
the terminus at Big Mine Run. The machines for hoisting and lowering cars at
the inclined planes were not ready, and the descent was made down these steep
inclines by the use of brakes on the cars, and iron shoes placed under the
wheels of the tender and fastened by chains to the frame of the locomotive. The
vertical descent of the two planes is seven hundred and twenty feet, but the
train was taken down without accident. The return was made by separating the
train and hauling single cars up the planes with mules. The opening of the road
in this imperfect manner was rendered necessary by the requirements of the
charter, which limited the period for finishing the line.
Mr. Gay resigned his connection with the
work at this time. While the tracks were in a condition to be run over, the
most important parts about the planes were unfinished. The chief engineer of
the company began at once to make the deeded alterations and improvements of
the work, and in the course of the next two years the whole was remodeled upon
plans that have been successfully used ever since. The first hoisting machinery
was imperfect in design and construction, and after many efforts to adapt it to
the wants of the trade it was abandoned, and that in present use was designed
and patented by Mr. Wilder. The hoisting wheels of the Mahanoy and Broad
mountain planes, and also of the Wilkes-Barre planes belonging to the Lehigh
Navigation Company and operated by the New Jersey Central Railroad Company, are
of the same construction. The pushing cars (Barneys) attached to the wore ropes
had at first telescopic axles to enable them to be drawn together, after
descending the planes on the same rails as the coal cars run, to enter the pit
at the foot of planes, while the train passes over them. Frequent accidents
rendered it necessary to lay another track of narrow gauge between the main
rails, and run upon it a "pusher,) of "Barney," with wheels made
fast to a shorter axle, that would enter the pit without danger of getting off
the track. A new method of ballast for the tail rope was also devised. Owing to
the length of the planes the method of signals on common use to communicate
between the head and foot of the planes was found to be impracticable, and a
simple electro-magnetic bell signal was arranged and put in use successfully in
1856. This has worked so well since that not even the telephone has supplanted
it. The various new devices introduced cheapened the cost of movement over the
planes to such an extent as to reduce it to the sum charged on any other part
of the road, viz., two and a half cents per ton per mile. The blocks of wood
inserted in the perimeters of the wheel, in which the groove to three years,
and the wire rope has elevated more than 3,000,000 gross tons before removal.
In 1856 an extension of the Tremont
branch was made to Mt. Eagle under a charter creating the Mt. Eagle and Tremont
Railroad Company. This road opened the lands owned by Hon. Henry K. Strong, who
procured the authority to build the line while he was a member of the
Legislature. A large amount of coal was transported from the property, but in
this case, as in many others in the anthracite coal fields, the cost of the
road was too great for the tonnage supplied, and taken by itself it never was
profitable to the company. Indeed, all the branches running into the lands in
the vicinity of Tremont never paid a large percentage. As a rule, land-owners
and operators are sanguine men, and lavish in promises which are seldom
fulfilled. In the same year (1856) the Big Run branch was built as far as
Locust Dale, about three miles from the foot of the planes, to open new mines
at that point. In 1860 the Locust Mountain Coal and Iron Company made
application for an extension of the Big Mine Run branch to the basin north of
the Locust mountain. The elevation of the valley was three hundred feet above
the terminus of that branch; and as the only method of overcoming the heights
by a graded line was through a long switch-back, involving heavy and very
expensive work, it was deemed advisable to make a self-acting or gravity plane,
where the descending load raised the empty cars. This was done at a
comparatively small cost, and a new system of machinery, specially adapted to
heavy and rapid working, was invented and put in use, and is still in good
order after twenty years of heavy service. During the same year the Big Run
branch was extended from the terminus of the portion constructed from the foot
of the planes westward through the Big Run valley to Locust Gap, where it
connected with the Shamokin Valley and Pottsville Railroad. By this line the
railway system of Schuylkill county was connected with the western and southern
railroads through the Philadelphia and Erie and Northern Central railways. The
opening of this branch, on the 18th of October, 1860, was celebrated by an
excursion train from Philadelphia to Sunbury, participated in by the Schuylkill
Navigation Company, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, and the Mine
Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad Company, and their guests. Six passenger
coaches, with other five hundred persons, were hauled by a single locomotive,
weighing thirty tons, across the Broad mountain at a speed of twenty-five miles
an hour. This was considered quite a feat at that time, and probably no engine
of equal weight has ever done better on ascending grades of one hundred and ten
feet per mile. The train was taken down the planes (two cars at a time) without
delay or accident.
An extension of the Mill Creek branch of
the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad into the Mahanoy basis, via the old
Girard line, or the immediate vicinity of it, by the Mahanoy and Broad Mountain
Railroad Company, was put under contract at this time, with George B. Roberts
as chief engineer. The road was intended to be a rival of the Mine Hill
Railroad in that region, and the charges for transportation over it were
reduced below those of the latter company, to the serious detriment of its
aggregate income. As was perfectly natural under the circumstances, a conflict
began between the rival interest, and litigation of a very unsatisfactory
character continued for more than a year, resulting in nothing more than a
confirmation of what had been suspected from the beginning, that the
Philadelphia and Reading Company had been the instigator of the whole movement,
for the purpose of obtaining ultimately a control of the Mine Hill road, and
through it crippling the canal as a coal carrying line.
The next movement was to withdraw the
eastern tonnage from the Reading company, which had previously received more
than one-half the coal passing over the Mine Hill Railroad, and send it to New
York by a new connection with the Lehigh Valley and New Jersey Central
railroads. A charter had been granted by the Legislature of Pennsylvania for a
railroad, entitled the Schuylkill Haven and Lehigh River Railroad, in 1856, and
in October and November of that year a preliminary survey of the line was made
by Alexander W. Rea. At the session of 1850 the charter was extended and
amended to include members of the Mine Hill Company among the commissioners to
open books and organize the company. On the 15th of July the books were opened
at Franklin Hall, Philadelphia, and 8,000 shares, or a majority of the stock,
were taken by the Mine Hill Company. The commissioners met on the 5th August
and completed the organization of the company. The surveys were rapidly made,
and the work placed under contract on the 5th of December following. The
grading and masonry were pushed ahead as fast as possible through the winter,
which was favorable for the contractors, and by spring had advanced so much as
to convinced the managers of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company that
at an early day they would have to encounter a competition for the eastern
traffic far more formidable than they had thought it possible to effect; and
when they learned that the whole superstructure and rolling stock had been
contracted for, they sought at once to stop the construction of the road by
opening negotiations for the lease of the Hine Hill and Schuylkill Haven
Railroad and its dependencies for a period of 999 years. As a preliminary to
this the new company was to be merged in the old, under a general law providing
for such action between corporations, after which the terms of the lease began
to be discussed by committees of the two companies. A meeting was finally held
on April 24th by the directors of the Schuylkill Haven and Lehigh River
Railroad Company at their office in Philadelphia to take action upon the
Reading offer, and they resolved to accept it, stop all work upon the line, go
into a liquidation of the contracts, and settle all claims for damages that had
been incurred during the progress of the work. In the meantime an appraisal of
the rolling stock and loose property of the Mine Hill Railroad Company was
made, and the property scheduled in the lease, with the option by the Reading
Company to take it at such estimated value. Many things occurred to retard the
final transfer of the property, and the officers of the company continued to
operate the line all through 1863 and during the early apart of 1864, dividing
their time and energies between the transportation of coal and movement of
troops stationed at various points for the protection of the region, and to aid
the enrolling officers to make the draft for the army.
Few will ever know the extent of labor
and anxiety involved in the railway service of this period, not to say anything
of the personal peril that daily and nightly followed the movements of
officers. The loyal men and youths of the mining population were in the field
doing noble work for their country, whether by birth or adoption; the disloyal
remained at home, and they far outnumbered the former, and carried with them
everywhere the means of destruction to properties of immense value in
themselves, and of still greater value to the government in its hour of
greatest peril; because from the anthracite mines came the power of supremacy
over the blockade runners that used bituminous coal, the black smoke from which
signaled their presence from along distances to their foe, unseen save perhaps
by a doubtful wreath of steam rising upon the frosty air. To guard these
properties, and keep the reckless population in check by kindness, by vigilance
that knew no rest, and, when necessary, by the dark mouthed cannon and
glittering bayonets, was a work of no ordinary character, and could have no
recognition, and no reward but the consciousness of duty.
At length the contracts were signed, and
on the 16th of May, 1864, the Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad was
formally transferred to the officers appointed by the lessee to receive it. The
chief engineer and superintendent was retained by the old company till January
1st, 1865, when he asked to be relieved, and closed his connection with the
road, after a continuous service of nearly seventeen years, during which time
he had never been absent from duty for any purpose except when absolute
necessity called him away.
A general review of the status of this
company results in an impression of profound regret that the stockholders ever
permitted the control of it to pass from them. They had always received large
dividends in their investment, and had they availed themselves of the
recommendation of those fully qualified to judge the condition of things
impartially they would have found no cause to apprehend financial difficulties
in the future. The terms offered by the Lehigh Valley Company and the Central
Railroad of New Jersey were such as would have given them all the benefits of a
through line, and would also have put those companies in a position to defy
competition; and the crisis through which each has since passed, bringing
disaster to one and great reduction in the value of the other, would probably
have only been drawn and executed at once, as suggested by the chief engineer,
all these results evils would have been avoided, and the region would have
remained in a comparatively flourishing condition. The great corporation which
today is floating, an unwieldy wreck, on a sea of trouble, threatened with
utter ruin by every financial wave sweeping over it, would have been the safe
investment its patrons believed it in years gone by. At the time of the change
the road had a reputation abroad for its progressive spirit, and on no one were
greater advances made in the department of machinery and road fixtures. Its
hoisting machinery for inclined planes was excelled nowhere in this or any
other country; its locomotives were the most powerful of all then constructed,
and the accommodations furnished the numerous collieries of the various
branches have never been equaled. In the local management great vigilance was
exercised: no trains collided, no engines exploded, and few men in the long
term of years were killed or injured. And yet in the very midst of a prosperous
career, with a full corps of energetic men to aid them in an expansive policy,
with a prestige that would have commanded any amount of capital, and the
co-operation of men whose views of our railway system were constantly widening,
they suffered a work that cost $4,000,000 to pass away from their control, and
became the passive observers of the decline of a system they had created, to
the mere shadow of corporate authority. All the elements of a greater system
still exist, and may be combined in the future to make the road what it should
have been in the past, ere the desire for personal aggrandizement and corporate
agreed had paralyzed its energies. The present organization is no more than a
mere agency for the distribution of semi-annual rentals among the stockholders.
UNION CANAL RAILROAD
This was the first railroad chartered in
the county. It was incorporated by a supplement to the several acts
incorporating the Union Canal Company, which supplement was approved March 3rd,
1826. It authorized the company "to construct a railway or railways
branching from said navigation to any point or points which may be required for
the communication between the said Union canal and the coal mines of the
Swatara and the country west and northwest thereof."
In accordance with the provisions of its
charter it was constructed to the junction of Lorberry and Swatara creeks, and
used mainly for the transportation of coal. It was operated by horse power till
about 1848, when motive power was brought into use on this and the roads that
had been built beyond it.
A supplement approved on the 14th day of
April, 1828, to the act incorporating the Little Schuylkill Navigation Company,
empowered that company to construct a railroad in place of the canal and
slackwater navigation which the original act authorized; or in lieu of any part
of such canal and navigation, from a point at or near where the Wilkes-Barre
state road crosses the Little Schuylkill to a point at or near the foot of
Broad mountain.
Though the work was commenced early
several acts were passed extending the time for its completion. In 1833 its
completion was extended to 1838, in 1842 till 1847, and in 1847 five years from
the date of the act.
Locomotives were placed on this road in
the spring of 1833. Of one of these the Miners' Journal said at that time:
"It is able to travel at the rate of ten miles an hour, leading a train of
fifteen cars, each carrying three tons. Now, allowing two trips a day for an
engine, this would be equal to 90 tons a day; or 540 tons per week."
This company were transporters only, at
first, but subsequently, like many others, they came to be owners of coal
lands, and operators. An act passed in 1832 gave exclusive privileges of
transportation; and at a public meeting in McKeansburg, in 1833, a resolution
was adopted recommending the circulation of petitions for the repeal of this
act. The resolution stated that this "monopolizing policy is daily
practiced to the great injury of individuals in that section of the
commonwealth." At that time there existed a strong feeling of opposition
to the creation of charter companies, with exclusive privileges.
By the connection which was formed with
the Catawissa railroad this road became a link in the through line between
Philadelphia and Buffalo and Niagara Falls; and thus became an important
passenger road.
A branch of this road was extended west
from Tamaqua about a mile and a half, connecting with the Mountain Link
railroad. Other short branches were constructed to different collieries along
its course.
SCHUYLKILL VALLEY RAILROAD
This was chartered March 20th, 1827, as
a navigation company; and on the 14th of April, 1828, a supplement passed which
authorized he construction of a railroad from near the mouth of Mill creek to a
point at or near the mill of George Reber, Esq.
An extension of six miles was authorized
by a supplement passed April 12th, 1844. January 24th, 1845, the time for
completing the second track between Middleport and Tuscarora was extended till
the annual tonnage of coal over the first track should amount to 1,000,000
tons; and in 1849 it was extended to the 24th of March, 1853.
March 8th, 1859, a road from Tuscarora
to Tamaqua, to be completed in eighteen months, was authorized; and April 2nd,
1860, the time was extended twelve months from the date of the act.
The progress of construction of this
road is indicated by the supplements to the charter, passed from time to time,
as above stated.
It is noteworthy that the supplement of
April 12th, 1844, provided that the company should charge no more than one cent
per mile for transporting loaded cars, and should return them empty without
charge; and that it should make no charge for the locomotives of others, used
for this purpose, on its road.
Near Tamaqua this road connects, by
means of the Mountain Link Railroad, with a branch of the Little Schuylkill;
and through it with the system of railroads running out from Tamaqua. A number
of short branches run from this road at various points along the Schuylkill
valley to the collieries on the southern slope of Mine hill.
MILL CREEK RAILROAD
An act authorizing the incorporation of
the Mill Creek and Mine Hill Navigation and Railroad Company was passed
February 7th, 1828. This highway was to extend from near the mouth of Mill
creek to a point on the Center turnpike near the foot of Broad mountain. The
time for its completion, which had been fixed at February 7th, 1863, was, by
act of May 28th, 1840, extended to February 7th, 1845. It was partially built
in 1829, and at that time only connected with some coal mines and the head of
Schuylkill navigation. It was a 40-inch single track road, built with wooden
rails covered with strap iron, and operated by horse power. It was an important
avenue of coal transportation, and continued to be used mainly for that purpose
many years.
In 1847 a supplement to its charter
empowered it to build branches to accommodate its business, and another in 1857
authorized it to const-ruct branch roads to the Mahanoy coal region.
MOUNT CARBON RAILROAD
This road was incorporated by an act
approved April 29th, 1829. Its location, according to the act, was to be from
"the lower landings at Mount Carbon, in the county of Schuylkill, thence
up the river Schuylkill to the mouth of Norwegian creek, and the west branch
thereof, to the south side of the Broad mountain in the said county; and also a
single or double railroad from the forks of Norwegian creek, up the east branch
thereof, to the south side of Mine Hill."
April 8th, 1833, the time for completion
of this road was extended to April 1st, 1838; and on the 17th of March, 1838,
it was further extended to April 1st, 1848. April 11th, 1848, it was empowered
to construct laterals, not to exceed one mile each in length.
The road was constructed in accordance
with the provisions of its charter, and in the style of early railroads. Many
branches to collieries were built, but the company never extended the main
lines beyond their original chartered limits.
About 1848 the wooden track was
superseded by the T rail, but, although the locomotives of other companies
occasionally passed over it, mule power continued to be used till February,
1862, when the road was leased by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company
for the period of 999 years. It has been operated since by the P. and R.
company, and it is used almost exclusively for the transportation of coal. In
1868 or 1869 a switchback was built at Mount Laffee, the terminus of the west
branch of this road, in order to reach the Beech-wood colliery.
CATAWISSA RAILROAD
The Little Schuylkill and Susquehanna
Railroad, to extend from the terminus of the Little Schuylkill Railroad, as designated
in its char-ter, along the valleys of Messer's run and Catawissa creek to a
point on the north branch of the Susquehanna, at or near Catawissa, was
incorporated March 21st, 1831.
In 1833 the time for commencement was
extended three years, and for completion six years. By a supplement of February
26th, 1846, the time for completion was extended five years, and the
construction of lateral branches to mines authorized; the owners of those mines
to have the privilege of transporting the products in their own cars, with
their own motive power.
March 20th, 1849, the name was changed
to the Catawissa, Williamsport and Erie Railroad, and the time for completion
further extended to December 1st, 1855. In 1860 an act was passed concerning
the sale of the road; and in 1861 the time for completion was further extended
to 1871, and branches and connections to coal mines and iron works authorized.
This road was commenced not long after
the date of its charter; but by reason of financial embarrassments the work was
suspended during several years. It was afterward resumed, and the main line
completed about 1854.
The road has two tunnels; one under the
Mahanoy mountain at the summit of grade having considerable length. The other
is a shorter, curved tunnel, which passes under a spur of the mountain jutting
into the Catawissa valley. This road constitutes a link in the chain of roads
between Philadelphia and the great lakes.
A peculiarity of this consists in its
uniform grade of about 30 feet to the mile from the Susquehanna to the summit
tunnel. This uniformity necessitated the erection of seven timber viaducts,
from 90 to 130 feet in height, and of various lengths up to 1,100 feet.
SWATARA RAILROAD
This was chartered as the Swatara and
Good Spring Creek Railroad, April 2nd, 1831. It was to run "from the
northern end of the Union Canal Company's railroad, up the Swatara river to its
junction with the Good Spring creek, and thence up the said creek to a point
most suitable in the heart of the coal region.
"March 25th, 1841, its name was
changed to the Swatara Railroad Company."
By supplements to the charter the time
for construction was several times extended, and by other supplements the
company was authorized to construct branches, make extensions and form
connection. By a supplement passed April 6th, 1848, the use of locomotive power
on the road was authorized, and locomotives were soon afterward placed on the
road.
In 1863 the road was leased by the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, and afterward purchased by that
company. About six miles had been built when it was leased, and a branch from
Tremont up Middle creek partly graded. The road has been extended by the
Philadelphia and Reading company.
PHILADELPHIA AND READING RAILROAD
On the 20th of March, 1838, an act was
approved empowering the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company " to
extend their said railroad from its present termination in the borough of
Reading to some suitable point in or near the borough of Pottsville in the county
of Schuylkill," or to connect with the Mount Carbon road if deemed
expedient. The act required the work to be commenced simultaneously at both
termini of the road within a year, to be completed between Mount Carbon and
Port Clinton within two years, and through its entire length within four years.
The road was constructed in accordance
with the terms of the act; and the first train of cars passed over it on the
19th of January, 1842.
By a supplement, approved March 29th, 1848,
the company were required to extend their road into the borough of Pottsville
and establish a depot there. The required extension was made through the Mount
Carbon Railroad. Previous to the completion of this road the net work of
railroads in this county had been used for the transportation of coal from the
mines to the Schuylkill navigation. The establishment of this through line to
the city of Philadelphia not only furnished an outlet for the products of the
mines during the winter season, but relieved but relieved the navigation of a
portion of its tonnage during other seasons of the year. By reason of increased
facilities for transportation the development of the coal trade was more rapid,
and other avenues were opened. In order to maintain itself against the rivalry
of these, the Philadelphia and Reading Company inaugurated and carried out the
policy of absorbing, by lease, purchase, or otherwise, the control of the
various lines in this portion of the coal region. In this they succeeded; and
all the principal roads in the county, except the Lehigh and Mahanoy, came
under their control. By lease of the Schuylkill navigation their control of the
means of transportation to Philadelphia became complete.
Under their charter the company had not
the power to carry on mining operations, and their control of the avenues of
transportation did not enable them to control the trade, or prevent the
construction of other avenues. To accomplish the latter a corporation first
known as the Laurel Run Improvement company was chartered, and the name was
soon changed to the "Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company."
It was owned, and its operations were directed by the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad Company; and it was a separate organization only in name. Many
millions of dollars were expended in the purchase of coal lands, and the
purchase and establishment of collieries, and for these purposes an immense
debt was incurred. Under this company mining operations were carried on to a
very great extent in this county; and during many years the Philadelphia and
Reading Railroad Company were able almost wholly to control the coal trade and
the transportation of this county. At length, for reasons which it would not be
proper to discuss here, these corporations,-or rather, in fact, this
corporation,-which had grown to such gigantic proportions, collapsed. President
Gowen was appointed receiver, but an influential party of stockholders opposed
his management, and secured the election of Frank S. Bond as president, who on
the 21st of April, 1881, issued a circular announcing his assumption of the
duties of the office. Mr. Gowen immediately stated that the points involving
the control of the road would be appealed to the United States Supreme Court,
pending whose decision he intended to retain the management.
MOUNT CARBON AND PORT CARBON RAILROAD
This road was incorporated by an act of
Assembly approved July 16th, 1842. The route designated in the charter was from
"the lower landings at Mount Carbon, at or near the termination of the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad;" thence to pass across the river
Schuylkill to Port Carbon. By a supplement passed April 14th, 1843, the time
for its commencement and completion was extended to one and three years
respectively from the date of the supplement.
It was built as provided by its charter,
and connected with the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad at Mount Carbon, and
with the Mill Creek and Schuylkill Valley railroads at Port Carbon. The first
locomotive and cars passed over it in November, 1844-a year after its
commencement. It was empowered to construct branches to mines, furnaces, etc.,
of other companies by an act of April 25, 1854.
May 5th, 1855, an act was passed
authorizing the sale of this road; and in accordance with the provisions of
this act it was sold to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company.
SCHUYLKILL AND SUSQUEHANNA RAILROAD
On the 25th of April, 1844, the Fishing
Creek, Swatara and Schuylkill Railroad, commonly called the Schuylkill and
Susquehanna Railroad, was incorporated. It was to run from Fishing Creek gap in
the Sharp mountain, near the junction of Fishing creek and Baird's run, in Pine
Grove, along the valley between Sharp and Second mountains, to the Swatara; and
thence, by a favorable route, to the summit between Little Swatara and Bear
creeks; and by the valley of the latter to the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad, at some point near the mouth of Bear creek. In 1847 the time for
commencement was extended to 1850, and in 1850 to 1855.
This
road runs from Auburn to the county line in Tremont township, via Pine Grove,
and extends thence to Dauphin, where it connects with the Northern Central, and
through it with the northern and southern systems of railways.
EAST MAHANOY RAILROAD
This was incorporated April 21st, 1854,
to run from a point where it would connect with the " Little Schuylkill
Navigation Railroad and Coal Company," about five miles north from
Tamaqua, and thence by a route considered favorable by the directors to "any
point or points in the Mahanoy second coal field, with suitable branch roads
thereon not exceeding in the whole twenty-five miles in length."
An act of April 11th, 1859, authorized
the leasing of this road to the Little Schuylkill Company; and another of April
21st in the same year revived the charter and extended the time for
commencement of construction five years.
It was constructed, in accordance with
the provisions of its charter, to the southern base of Mahanoy mountain at a point
about four miles from Mahanoy City. It passes under the mountain through a
tunnel some four thousand feet in length. It was extended to Mahanoy City and
there connected with the railway system in the eastern part of the county.
The road was built under the patronage
of the Little Schuylkill Railroad Company, and after its completion was leased
by that company.
LEHIGH AND MAHANOY RAILROAD
The charter of the Quakake railroad was
granted April 25th, 1857, and authorized the construction of a road from the
Beaver Meadow railroad, at the junction of Quakake and Black creeks, westwardly
up the Quakake valley, and thence to make connection with the Catawissa
railroad between its two summit tunnels in the township of Rush.
A supplement, approved March 22nd, 1859,
authorized the extension westwardly of this road to the head waters of and down
the Mahanoy creek, "as far as may be deemed expedient;" with
authority to make connection with any railroad in the valley, and to construct
branches.
Under
this charter and supplement the Lehigh and Mahanoy Railroad was built, and
completed as far as Mount Carmel in 1865. In 1866 it was merged in the Lehigh
Valley Railroad, by which it has since been owned and operated. It has a branch
to Ashland, and branches to various collieries. The grades on this road are
very heavy. It connects at Mount Carmel with the Northern Central, and through
that road with the southern and western system of railways. It connects with
the collieries of the Locust Mountain Coal and Iron Company, in which the
Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, in which the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company
owns half interest. This company also owns the collieries on the Girard coal
lands, formerly owned by the Philadelphia Coal Company. The shops of the Lehigh
and Mahanoy railroad are located at Delano, in the township of Rush.
MAHANOY AND BROAD MOUNTAIN RAILROAD
The charter for this road was granted
March 29th, 1859; and the route prescribed was from a point in Mahanoy or
Butler township, and "thence, by the most expedient and practicable route,
to connect with the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, or any of its
tributaries, with the privilege of making lateral roads into the Mine Run,
Shenandoah, Mahanoy, and New Boston coal basins."
In 1860 this road was constructed, with
its termini at the terminus of the Mill creek railroad on the south, and a
point near Ashland on the north. Subsequently it was extended; and connections
were made with the Mine Hill railroad at Big Mine Run and Locust Dale. On the
northern slope of the Mahanoy mountain, near the old Girard plane, this road
was an important plane, with an elevation of about 380 feet. It is what
engineers term a reciprocating plane; and its annual tonnage is about two
millions of tons. The expense of this tonnage is not more than one-fifth of
what the cost of the same would be over a route and grade that would dispense
with the plane. If, by any accident, the plane should become useless for a
time, the tonnage of the road could be carried away through interconnecting
branches.
NESQUEHONING
VALLEY RAILROAD
This was chartered April 12th, 1861. By the provisions of its
charter it was allowed to form connections with many other roads at the option
of its directors.
It extends from the line between
Carbon and Schuylkill counties to Tamaqua, and coal lands in its vicinity. It
was leased and operated by the Lehigh Navigation Company, which was
subsequently leased by the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey.
MOUNTAIN LINK
RAILROAD
Between the terminus of the Schuylkill Valley Railroad at
Tuscarora and the Little Schuylkill Railroad at Tamaqua was a space of about
four miles, over which passengers passed in stages during many years. No
railroad was built over this route, by reason of a want of cordiality on the
part of the two companies. When the Philadelphia and Reading had acquired
control of both these roads of course this antagonism ceased; and in 1864 and
1865 a road was constructed and put in operation by that company across this
space, and railroad communication was thus established between these places.
The road passes over the watershed, or divide, between the
head waters of the Schuylkill and Little Schuylkill rivers, and this
necessitates grades, in some places, of about 100 feet to the mile. The
connection which it established over this height rendered its name-Mountain
Link-quite appropriate.
THE PEOPLE'S
RAILWAY
was incorporated April 4th, 1865.
It might extend "from and in the borough of Pottsville to any point or points
in any direction, in the county of Schuylkill, not exceeding six miles in
length, as the direct-ors may select, and through any streets of boroughs, or
roads, or by any routes they may deem advisable." The powers conferred on
this road were extraordinary. April 28th, 1871, the time for completing the
work was extended till 1874, and the company was empowered to use dummy engines
instead of horse power, to which it was restricted by the original charter.
March 4th, 1873, it was authorized to use locomotive engines.
The road was opened in 1872 between Mount Carbon and
Fishbach, and used as a street railway. Early in 1873 it was opened from the
head of Market street, in the borough of Pottsville, to Minersville; and it has
since been operated between those points with motive power. From Mount Carbon
to the head of Market street to Fishbach it has been discounted, and the rails
have been removed
pp 327 - 341
In
1799 Berkhard Moser, of Northampton county-now Lehigh-a German, to better his
condition and provide for the wants of a growing family, left his home and
directed his steps to this narrow valley of Tamaqua, and settled at the
junction of Panther creek and Little Schuylkill river.
In 1832 the town was incorporated. The
population was 300, and rapidly increasing. July 26th, 1833, the first borough
officers, having been then recently elected, were formally organized as
follows: John Franklin, chief burgess; David Hunter, president of council;
Charles D. Cox, William Caldwell, William George, John N. Speece, and Lewis
Audenreid, councilmen.
Improvements were rapid in 1846-47. New
or Hunter street was laid out, many miners' houses were built, two large brick
stores were erected by J. and R. Carter and James Taggart. There was a large
influx of enterprising men. The business interests in 1846 were represented as
follows: Merchants, 7; agents, 4; blacksmiths, 5; cabinet-makers, 2; butchers,
3; hucksters, 2; miners, 65; hotel-keepers, 5; carpenters, 12; tailors, 2;
shoemakers, 4; boarding-house keepers, 6; clerks, 4; laborers, 44; physicians,
5; watchmakers, 1; tinsmiths, 1.
The principal coal operators at that
time were J. and R. Carter, Heaton & Carter, Harlan & Henderson, R.
Radcliffe & Co.,, William Donaldson, and James Taggart. In 1862 there were
Charles F. Shoener, J. Donaldson & Co., H. Dintinger, George W. Cole;
later, E.J. Fry, George Wiggan, Henry L. Cake, Gideon Whetstone, Richard
Winlack, William T. Carter. The collieries operated in the vicinity were known
as the East Lehigh, the Greenwood, the Alaska, the Newkirk, the East-East, the
Buckville, the Reevesdale.
Under the act of 1851, a petition was
presented December 7th, 1851, praying for a charter; which was granted by the
court March 22nd, 1852.
Concerning the formation of the new
borough government the records are singularly silent. John A. Smith was the
chief burgess in 1852, followed by Michael Beard. There are no records of the
councilmen. From 1865 to 1879 Herman B. Graeff was clerk of the council; the
present incumbent is Samuel Beard.
In September, 1832, the Lehigh Coal and
Navigation Company, claiming a parcel of land in that part of the town near the
hotel of John Zehner, now the Washington House, Pine street, which rightfully
belonged to the Kershner family, employed a company of men to erect a log house
upon it and place a tenant there, so that they might obtain the benefit of
possession. They did it in twelve hours, but high constable Bannan came along
at the close of the job, armed with both warrant and rifle, and marched the
party off to Orwigsburg. The whole matter was amicable settled, however.
Up to the time of the erection and
laying out of the towns, in 1829, but little had been attempted at improvement,
either in the intellectual or moral condition of the people. Rev. Mr.
Schellhart lived with John Kershner and taught his and other children. Early in
1830 a school-house was erected upon the lot now occupied by the residence of
Mrs. H.L. McGuigan, Broad and Nescopec streets. É..
In 1849 William J. Harlan awakened the
public mind to the desirability of having a system of water supply. At an
expense of $23,000 Tamaqua constructed her first water works. On municipal
improvements alone the borough has expended $850,000 to 1881, fully $150,000 of
which has been upon the water supply. The Rabbit run and springs furnish the
reservoir, located two miles from the town, at the farm of Henry Enterline, in
the New England district of Walker township, and the capacity is 15,000
gallons. The water supply is under the direction of the council.
The newspaper history of Tamaqua covers a
period of thirty-two years, and centers nearly in the office of the Tamaqua
Courier. The Tamaqua
Legion was started in
July, 1849, by J.M. and D.C. Reinhart, the name being altered in 1855 to the Tamaqua
Gazette. In January,
1857, the name was again altered, to the Tamaqua Anthracity Gazette. The paper suspended publication two
months in 1861, and was then sold to R.N Leyburn, who changed the name to the
Anthracite Journal. Captain Leyburn joined the army a year later, and Fry &
Jones assumed proprietorship until his return. The paper was then sold to the
Monitor Publishing Company.
Albert
Leyburn published the Saturday Courier until it was sold to Eveland & Shiffert, in 1872. It
was afterward published by Eveland & Harris until 1873, when Eveland,
Harris & Richards took charge, and the paper was renamed the Tamaqua
Courier. A.S.R. Richards
withdrew from the firm in 1875, and the remaining partners purchased the
material of the Anthracity Monitor,
a Labor Reform journal, started in March, 1871, and which at one time had an
immense circulation and influence. They thus acquired the title to the old Legion
and to all the honors of the first and only printing establishment Tamaqua ever
had. March 15th, 1878, Harris & Zeller took charge, Daniel M. Eveland
retiring.
At
one time (1875, 1876) Tamaqua had two daily papers, the Item, published by Levi
Huppert, and the Courier, published by Eveland & Harris; but they hardly
started before they died. March 2nd, 1881, the partnership in the Courier
office existing between Harris & Zeller was dissolved, the interest being
purchased by Robert Harris, William H. Zeller retiring.
A gentle rain began Sunday evening,
September 1st, 1850, and at daylight a freshet commenced which brought death
and destruction on every side. At Newkirk the trestles of the tracks running
into the mines were filled in with earth and a great dam was thus formed. This
gave way, and the pent up waters rushed down the valley, meeting those of the
swollen Schuylkill, and bringing a perfect deluge upon the borough. The
generally accepted theory is that the flood was caused by a great waterspout
which burst over the valleys. In the gorge on Burning mountain, a tree sixty
feet up the side marks the height of the sudden flood.
The
water extended from BeardÕs Hotel to the mountains. Everything on the flats was
swept away. Dwellings, foundries and workshops were taken away by the waters. A
double framed house, in which twenty-two persons had taken shelter, was torn
asunder and all were drowned. The Rev. Mr. Oberfield was caught by the waters
while in the act of rescuing a child and was drowned. It is said 62 persons in
all were lost. Not a track of the Little Schuylkill Railroad remained. Tamaqua
was without communication with the outside world for six days. A wagon load of
provisions hurried on from Philadelphia by George Wiggan and Robert Ratcliffe
saved many from starvation. September 2nd and 3d were sorrowful days to the
desolated town. Everybody turned out to exhume and carry in the dead from down
the river. One procession brought in eleven at one time. Many households
mourned; the town was in deep gloom. Death claimed a victim in every other home
it seemed, and the mourners truly went about the streets. There been later
floods-in 1862 and 1869-but the one of 1850 surpassed them altogether.
THE POST-OFFICE IMBROGLIO.
In 1830 Tamaqua post-office was
established near the present residence of Rowland Jones, with H.B. Ward as
postmaster. In connection with this Isaac Hinkley performed the duties of mail
carrier as well as stage driver, running a hack from summit Hill and back,
connecting there with the cars on the Switchback Railroad for Mauch Chunk.
About
this time a sharp contest arose between the inhabitants of Dutch hill and the
west end of town. The grand object was to secure the center of the town. Burd
Patterson and his party actually procured, by some means, the establishment of
a second post-office; so that Tamaqua in 1832 had two distinct post-offices,
established by the government.
Abraham
Rex was postmaster number 2, but the office did not long survive.
At
this date George W. Baum made an effort to draw the center of the town around
his residence, calling the place Wittemberg, but it failed. The Little
Schuylkill Railroad Company endeavored in 1827 to build the town upon the
beautiful level running out from Dutch hill, and they had erected the first
stone building, intended for a hotel, now occupied by Rev. I.E. Graeff and Bodo
Whitman, and Market and Union streets were laid out. The center of business and
extension remained in the valley, however.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Many
years expired before Tamaqua established its present well equipped fire
department. The first attempt resulted in a single hose carriage in 1852,
housed in a barn. A house was built a year later and stood near the Pines
bridge until 1879, when it was removed. This was the beginning of Perseverance
Hose and Steam fire Engine Company, No. 1, which numbered in its old list of
membership the leading citizens of Tamaqua of twenty-five years ago. B.T.
Hughes was president of this company twenty- eight years. In 1879 the town
council caused to be erected the present admirable edifice, built of pressed
brick with sandstone trimmings, two stories in height, with a mansard roof. The
first and only steam fire engine in town was bought in 1875. The Perseverance
company entered their new home in October, 1879. connected with their
organization is the Matthew Newkirk library, of some 1,500 books, and their
parlor is classed as among the best furnished in the county. Their property at
present consists of one steamer, two hose carriages and 1,500 feet of gum hose,
valued at $6,500. The membership of the company is 35. The president is David
Morgans; the secretary, William H. Zeller; the treasurer, J.G. Schod; the
engineer, Joshua Morgans.
American
Hose Company, No. 1, housed in a frame building at Mauch Chunk and Pine
streets, was reorganized January 17ty, 1878, upon the remains of the old
Reliance Hook and Ladder Company, which was in existence from 1860 to that
time. The present members (all young, active men) number 28. The property
consists of equipments, one carriage and 1,000 feet of hose. The president is
Hon. William C. Felthoff; the secretary, F.R. Krell.
The
chief engineer of the fire department is Frederic Beliner; the assistant chief
engineer, Harry Myers.
COAL INTERESTS AND MANUFACTURES.
Though distinctively at one time a
mining town, Tamaqua to-day enjoys the reputation of being quite a
manufacturing center, being one of the few towns in Pennsylvania located in the
coal regions that have almost completely turned from the pursuit of mining into
that of manufactures. The restrictive policy of the Philadelphia and Reading
Coal and Iron Company causes the mines to be idle. Shortly after the lease of
the Little Schuylkill Company lands in 1869, and about 1874, mining almost
entirely ceased in this section. Two of the largest breakers (the Buckville and
the Greenwood) were burned to the ground by the Mollie Maguires, and were never
rebuilt. There was no prospect of safety to property in those days (1869-1875)
were the company to rebuild, and when the leading outlaws and murderers were
brought to the bar of justice, and thence to the gallows, it was too late to
retrieve the lost industry. The period of severe business prostration had swept
like a whirlwind over the country, and no venture was safe. Then, too, a coal
combination of the leading producing companies had been formed and, the
production being limited to an exact quota, collieries that were in operation
were closed and none were built. Largely for these reasons the coal fields at
Tamaqua-classed as the most valuable of all the possessions of the Philadelphia
and Reading Coal and Iron Company-cased to be worked ten years ago (1871) and
the capital of the town drifted into other industrial investments.
West
Lehigh Breaker.-This
breaker is an old property on the New England road, at the southern borough
line, and has been worked since 1845. It is the only breaker standing of all
the many that ten and fifteen years since dotted the country at and around
Tamaqua. The Donaldsons, Burlack & Whetstone, and the Philadelphia and
Reading coal and Iron Company successively operated it, and after standing idle
for years it was leased in July, 1878, to Wood & Pearce, old and practical
miners. The number of men and boys employed outside is 36; inside, 26. The
capacity of the breaker is 800 tons per week, and 100 tons per day is the
present output.
East
Lehigh Breaker.-This
breaker stands at the end of the vein in Sharp mountain, now worked by the
Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, and on its present site a slope had been
sunk and a mammoth breaker put in operation about 1850. Its passing away is a
sample of Mollie Maguire means of vengeance, for the property was destroyed by
them about twelve years ago. A penitentiary breaker was built there by Samuel
Randall in 1876, and operated by him until the spring of 1880, when Mitchel
& Symons leased the property, enlarged and improved the breaker and trebled
the capacity. Their trade is largely local; the production is about 400 tons
weekly, and twenty-five men find employment.
The
Allen Machine Shops.-These
shops are possibly the largest operated by a single firm in Pennsylvania, and
rank among the most complete of their kind in the country. they comprise a
foundry, pattern shop, boiler and machine departments, the whole embraced in a
building of white stone occupying a square, situated along Railroad avenue and
Foundry street.
The
first building was erected in 1846 by John K. Smith, and in 1847 a
co-partnership was formed by Hudson, Smith & Taylor. Taylor soon after left
the firm, Hudson withdrew not long afterward, and Smith was sole proprietor
until about 1853 or 1854, when John and Richard Carter and Lucian H. Allen
bought him out, and operated under the firm name of Carter & Allen. In 1865
Charles F. Shoener was taken into the firm. By the latter's failure in October,
1878, the interest of the Carters ceased, and by settlement the new firm became
Shoener & Allen. C.F. Shoener failed again in June, 1880, and William T.
Carter taking his interest, the firm became Carter, Allen & Co. The shops
were destroyed by fire in 1872 (the work of an incendiary), at a loss of
$100,000, and were rebuilt in the spring of 1873 by William Gettinger,
contractor. These works make every manner of mining machinery, engines,
boilers, cotton presses, and so on. Four hundred men can find employment when
there are orders which demand running on full time.
Robinson's
Foundry.-This establishment
is situated on East Broad street, beyond Pine. Originally the foundry was
located at Taggartsville, by Bright & Co., in 1859. In 1863 Robinson &
Co. became owners by purchase, and removed the business to Tamaqua, building on
ground now occupied by the east ward school-house. The present buildings were
erected and occupied in 1869. The principal manufactures are stoves, castings
and iron railings; 25 men are employed.
Greenwood
Rolling Mill was first
built and operated in 1865, by Robert Ratcliffe. It is located on Railroad
street at Elm. Cotton ties for the southern market are manufactured. The
business of the establishment has seen some severe periods of prostration-in
1877, part of 1878 and since July, 1880. In the spring of 1877, the Greenwood
Rolling-Mill Company took chargethe members being L.H. Allen, Wallace Guss,
H.S. Godshall, E.J. Fry and Charles F. Shoener, the latter taking nineteen and
onehalf twentieths of the stock, within a fraction of the whole.
Tamaqua
Shoe Factory.-The first
manufacture of goods for the market by the Tamaqua Shoe Company was made about
1874, in a building at Broad and Center streets, where an immense trade was
worked up. The headquarters becoming too small, books were opened for the
subscription of stock in the latter part of 1875, and the present commodious
three-story brick building in East Tamaqua, on the Lansford road, was built in
1876 at a cost of $12,000. The company was considerable crippled by the
peculations of the first superintendent. The factory was closed shortly after
getting into the new building, though operations in a small way were carried on
by Oram & Jones in 1879-80. Those most interested in the erection of te
building and work of manufacture were Daniel Shepp, W.B. Bensinger, H.A. Spiese,
Michael Beard, Philip A. Krebs, J.J. Kauffman and others.
Philadelphia
and Reading Shops.-These
shops were built by the Little Schuylkill Railroad company, about 1848, when
the round house near by was enlarged to shelter twenty-one locomotives. Repairs
to engines are the principal work done here, and some coal and freight car work
is also done. The number of employes is 90; 10 are employed at the round house.
Other
Industries.-The Shepp & Horich mill on Railroad street below Broad was
built in 1854; Behler's on Railroad street near Elm, in 1865; Kershner's mill
is located on Central and Cedar streets. All have an excellent trade.
Water's
foundry was established as the iron works of John Ollis, in May, 1846. In 1847
it passed into the hands of Hudson & Waters. It is now managed by H.
Water's Sons, and employs twelve to twenty hands. Engines and castings are
manufactured.
The
first brewery was established in 1850, by George Goeldner, who put up buildings
for that purpose on Broad street, immediately back of the present National
House. Five years later he sold out to Joseph Adam, the second brewer, and an
early settler. Joseph Halfner, Joseph Adam and Lawrence Koenig now have
breweries and enjoy a local trade. Conrad Boschoff's planing-mill and furniture
factory is a three-story brick building on Rowe street, built in 1865. William
Boyer's lumber-mill is on East Broad beyond Pine. The Tamaqua Hosiery Company
(limited) was organized in December, 1880. F. Krell and brother, J.F.
Wheenmeyer, L.F. Fritsch, John Hartman and P.C. Keilman have cigar factories.
Freudenberger's tannery on West Broad, at Green street, was established by one
Webb in 1850. He was succeeded by H. Enterline in 1857. The establishment is
now idle, and the large brick building in which its business had been carried
on is going to decay. John Becker and Joseph H. Wood have wheelwright shops on
East Broad, and on Cedar streets, respectively. George L. Boyd's screen factory
was established in 1867.
BANKS.
The
First National Bank of Tamaqua was incorporated in 1865, and surrendered its
charter as a State banking institution. It was originally organized as the
Anthracite Bank in 1850. The amount of capital stock paid in is $150,000,
two-thirds of which is owned by William T. Carter, of Philadelphia. This bank
suspended payment October 14th, 1878, and resumed just a month later. This
embarrassment occurred in consequence of the failure of Charles F. Shoener,
whose interest passed into the hands of William T. Carter. The bank has always
been a paying institution. James W. Abbot was cashier from 1852 until 1880.
E.J. Fay is president; Thomas T. Carter cashier.
The
Tamaqua Banking and Trust Company begun business in 1865. The president is
Daniel Shepp; the secretary and cashier, Henry A. Kauffman.
HOTELS.
The
first tavern in Tamaqua was kept in Berkhard Moser's house, by the wide of John
Kershner, and her son-in-law, Isaac Bennett. The date is uncertain, but is was
opened about 1807.
In
1827 the Little Schuylkill Company, thinking to draw the center of population
to Dutch hill, built the first stone building and hotel in Tamaqua. The house
was converted into a dwelling thirty years afterward and it is now occupied by
Rev. S.E. Graeff.
In
1832 James Taggart, one of the pioneers in that valley, came to Tamaqua, and
engaged in 1836 in keeping hotel at the old established stand of Mr. Michael
Beard, who took possession there in 1846.
Between
1845 and 1847 the United States Hotel was built by the Little Schuylkill Company,
and was first kept by Joseph Haughawout. In 1850 the Washington House, on Pine
street, was built, and the American and Mansion on Centre street at a later
period.
LITERARY SOCIETIES AND LYCEUMS.
In
1853 Tamaqua had a public library, and debating clubs discussed the momentous
questions of the day in the first town hall or school-house as early as 1845.
About 1856 the Tamaqua Lyceum was organized, and held weekly sessions for a
long period in the south ward school building. To this lyceum Matthew Newkirk,
of Philadelphia, made a gift of 1,500 books, which passed into the hands of the
Perseverance fire company when the society disbanded. No records of the first
organization remain. The principal citizens were members.
November
26th, 1876, James W. Abbot, B.C. Meeker, William H. Gable, Thomas Cole, Morgan
J. Williams, Charles F. Lowry, George W. Ford, Daniel F. Bower, Lucius A.
Gibbs, George Bensinger and William Philips, formed the Presbyterian Social and
Literary Institute, which still flourished, though many members have removed to
other fields, with Joseph B. Grigg as president and Miss Kate Beard as
secretary.
CEMETERIES.
The
first graveyard was laid out in 1831, on Dutch hill. The Catholic and Methodist
buying grounds were laid out about 1837. Zion's cemetery was opened in 1876.
The Odd Fellows' cemetery, the most attractive "city of the dead" in
Tamaqua, is located at the upper end of Broad street. It is in charge of
trustees appointed by Harmony Lodge of Odd Fellows, and it was first opened in
1865. There are thirty acres enclosed, and the various lots are in many
instances beautifully laid out.
FIRES.
Among
numerous fires of greater or less extent which have visited the place from time
to time, the following were remarkable for the damage they wrought:
On
the night of January 25th, 1857, a fire broke out in the store of Brock &
Son on Broad street, and destroyed twelve houses on that street, which were
occupied as stores and dwellings.
Friday
morning, May 31st, 1872, a fire began in Daniel Dean's wheelwright shop, which
spread and destroyed an entire block of building, rendering eighteen families
homeless. The fire caused a loss of $75,000. The firemen were prevented from
doing efficient service by a lack of hose.
MILITARY.
Tamaqua
made great contributions to the armies in the late war, notably in the 129th
regiment Pennsylvania volunteers. The National Zouaves, a crack organization,
existed in 1866 and 1867, making their first parade December 25th. The officers
were: Captain, R.L. Leyburn,; 1st lieutenant, Thomas D. Boon; 2nd lieutenant,
C.F. Garrett; A.M.S., Joseph Coulter; 1st sergeant, A.H. Tiley.
"B"
Company of the National Guard of Pennsylvania was mustered in in August, 1875. The
officers are: Captain, Wallace Guss; 1st lieutenant, John M. Hughes; 2nd
lieutenant, George Priser; 1st sergeant, Edward Ash.
In
1870 the soldiers' monument, a beautiful marble column fifty feet high,
surmounted by an eagle with outspread wings, in Odd Fellow' cemetery, was
erected by Doubleday Post, at a cost of $9,000.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The
first wagon-maker was Isaac Haldeman, whose shop stood on Pine street, in 1848.
The
first lawyer who located in Tamaqua was John Hendricks, who began practice in
1849.
The
first flour and feed store was opened by Bartlett & Taylor, in the old Oats
house, next to Shepp's four-mill. The building was erected for the purpose in
1849. In 1851 the business was sold to H.F. Stidfole, who continued in it for
eighteen years. He is now a prosperous merchant on West Broad street.
In
1852 Heilner & Morganroth's powder-mill, near Tamaqua, exploded, injuring
Reuben Stamm, and killing Reuben Strunk, throwing him a hundred feet.
A
temporary town hall, 40 by 100 feet was erected in 1868, at a cost of $4,500.
In
1855 the first regular theatrical performance was given in the borough.
Seitzinger's hall has been since 1869 the only place of amusement.
SECRET SOCIETIES.
Harmony
Lodge, No. 86, I.O.O.F. had its charter granted October 16, 1843, and the lodge
has grown with the town. The charter officers were: Joseph J. Elsegood, N.G.;
James H. Kelly, V.G.; John Franklin, S.; David Myers, assistant secretary;
Jacob Bell, treasurer; William Hodgkins, Philip Dormetzer, Conrad Ifland, and
B.L. Fetherolf, who have been identified with this lodge as active members for
thirty years. Harmony Lodge meets in Odd Fellows' Hall, which, with its
cemetery and other property in the borough, is its own property, and has over
150 active members. The present (1881) noble grand is Charles M. Greene; V.G.,
Jehoida Morgans; secretary, William Barton.
Scott
Encampment of Patriarchs, No. 132, was chartered February 17th, 1862. A
dispensation to organize was granted to John L. Regan, Daniel Dean, James M.
Hadesty, B.L. Fetherolf, Conrad Ifland, Philip Dormetzer, and William Hodgkins.
Ringgold
Lodge (German) I.O.O.F. was organized in 1871.
Tamaqua
Lodge, No. 238, F & A.M. was organized June 4th, 1849. The charter members were
D.G. Goodwin, Henry Kepner, George D. Bowen, Benjamin Heilner, John S. Boyer,
Samuel Beard, Charles Bennett, Peter Aurand, A.J. Orr, John Kolb, Richard
Carter, Bernard McLean, Joseph Haughawout and Jacob Smithers.
Other
branches of the masonic order are Tamaqua Chapter, No. 117, R.A.M.; Ivanhoe
Commandary, No. 31, K.T.; Knapp Council, No. 17, R.S.E.& S.M.
Washington
Camp No. 57 Patriotic Order Sons of America was chartered July 1st, 1859, and
surrendered its charter when all the members joined the army during the late
war. The camp was rechartered February 12th, 1870, with the following
membership; A.M. Herrold, H.N. Shindle, J.H. Seitzinger, A.C. Bond, William
Hittle, John A. Hirsch, Daniel M. Eveland, Richard Kirkpatrick, Henry
Seitzinger, William A. Lebo, Zachary C. Ratcliffe, John Friese, T.J. Swartz,
Philip Stein, E.A. Boyer, G.W. Rose, George Kepner, George C. Eveland, G.W.
Hadesty, Robert Ratcliffe, George Kershner, F.M. Stidham, John H. Stidfole,
George Grieff and C.E. Bailey.
Humboldt
Lodge of Harugari was organized in 1865.
Bright
Star Lodge, No. 231, I.O.G.T. was chartered in November, 1868, with Emanuel M.
Whetstone, Lancelot Fairer, Lafayette F. Fritsch, John W. Byron, Robert L.
Casey, Jackson L. Seiders, John W. Whetstone, John McConnell, Elias B.
Whetstone, Josiah Lineaweaver, Nathan Krause, jr., William H.H. Entriken, Emma
C. Meyer, Lizzie A. Beyel, Maggie Beyel and Sallie Beyel as members. The
present (1881) chief templar is Jesse Templin; secretary, Charles Nair; past
templar, Rev. E. Humphries; lodge deputy, William H. Zeller.
Order
United American Mechanics.-A lodge of this order was organized in 1868.
Doubleday
Post, No. 189, G.A.R. was organized and chartered July 20th, 1869, with O.C.
Bosbyshell as grand commander and Robert B. Beath as assistant adjutant
general. the original members were Henry H. Snyder, Fred Krell, George Hahn,
Nathan Krause, John H. Lutz, H.C. Honsberger, Adam Krause, Daniel M. Miller,
Wilson W. Miller, Joel Lins, F.T. Lins, J.H. Erdman, E.A. Jones, John Boughner,
D.H. Moyer, Absalom H. Whetstone, D.G. Lewis, J.J. Zehner, John Holman, Joseph
Southam, T.B. Carter, D.W. Davis, George Bond, H.P. Yeager, Charles Grieff,
William H. Haldeman, Fred H. Wagner, William Lane, A.R. Markel, Owen Jones,
Gottlieb Henry, Samuel Faust, C.F.M. Miller, Fred Eli, Charles Blew, John
Shifferstein, Robert Bechtel, Henry N. Shindel and William S. Allebach. The
soldiers' monument in the circle in Odd Fellows' cemetery is part of the work
of this organization.
Tamaqua
Lodge, No. 135, K.P. was chartered March 3d, 1869, with Bodo Whitman, Edward
Davis, John Herrold, William Swope, Thomas Carter, George Bond, sr., William
DePue, William King, Nathan Krause, Joseph H. Wood, William Griffiths, William
Vardy, John F. Houser, Charles DeFrehn and William Miller as members. It meets
weekly in Kirn's Hall, and is in a flourishing condition.
Tamaqua
Circle, No. 52, Brotherhood of the Union was organized August 25th, 1871, and
reorganized after the labor troubles of 1877. The lodge again suspended in
June, 1880, but is now in operation again. The charter members were J.F.
Woomer, E.A. Jones, John Beard, J.B. Lindenmuth, J.H. Erdman, Jacob Kaercher,
J.V. Matthews, David A. Shiffert, William Little and C. Ben Johnson.
Railroaders'
Brotherhood, No. 2, was organized June 20th, 1874. The charter members were
Phaon P. Hass, Charles B. Cook, Andrew Frank, Elias B. Whetstone, Daniel
Kleckner, Henry Wise, William Boyer, John Shifferstein, Christ Walters,
Gottleib Scheidle, Charles Rinkler and Amos Neifert.
Greenwood
Lodge, No. 2,124, Knights of Honor was organized March 26th, 1880. The charter
members were David Randall, Joseph E. Hess, F.R. Carpenter, Emil Albrecht, John
Davis, Charles H. Weldy, Edward F. Shindel, Philip Stein, Lafayette Fritsch,
William H. Kintzle, C.B. Dreher, Edwin Schlicher, Joseph Mitchel, William
Hittle, Isaac T. Sands, William H. Zeller, Franklin Schwartz, Samuel Brode,
John Fink, Frank Sowers, Walter Randall, John C. Walter, Mahlon S. Miller,
Samuel E. Taylor and Henry Kirn.
CHURCH HISTORY.
The
first gospel sermon in Tamaqua was preached in 1810 by Rev. John a. Schellhart,
a minister of the German Lutheran church, who, in connection with Rev. William
Schaeffer and Rev. Theophilus Sillick, supplied the few inhabitants with
occasional preaching for many years. Rev. Joseph Chattels, of the Philadelphia
annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, began to hold stated
services in 1830, and Rev. George Minner, of the German Lutheran church,
inaugurated regular services in 1853 in east Tamaqua. About this year (it is
placed by some three years earlier) Rev. Richard Webster made regular trips
from Mauch Chunk and founded the First Presbyterian church, in the beginning a
union church, in the old school-house, then removing to the framed church which
formerly stood on the property of George W. Cole, and in 1853 to the present
edifice, immediately opposite, on West Broad street. The first church was
erected by the Roman Catholics in 1833. In 1837 the little school-house became
too small to accommodate the growing congregations which worshiped there, and a
small union church was erected on the lot now occupied by the Methodist
Episcopal society. This union edifice was 26 by 40 feet in size, and for a
number of years was thought quite an acquisition. In 1845 it passed into the
hands of the Methodist episcopal society, by whom it was torn down to make room
for the present Methodist church. The same year the German Lutherans erected on
Dutch hill an edifice, which was torn down in 1814 to make room for the brick
church.
The
Pioneer Sunday-school.-June 21st, 1831, a meeting was held in the new
school-house to organize the Tamaqua Sabbathschool. The officers elected were:
George W. Baum, president; Edward Smith, vice-president; Albert H. Deuel,
secretary; John N. Speece, treasurer; John Franklin, John Hetherington, Stephen
Dodson, managers. June 26th, 1831, the school was formally and fully organized,
with the following teachers: G.W. Baum, Stephen Dodson, John Hix, John
Franklin, John N. Speece, Mrs. Maria H. Hunter, Mary Dodson and Parmelia
Rhodes; $11.74 was raised upon that occasion for the support of the school, and
the number of scholars present was 35. There now fourteen Sunday-schools and
1,739 scholars in the borough.
Primitive
Methodist Tabernacle.-The history of the Primitive Methodist church of Tamaqua
dates back as far as 1830. William Donaldson, an old and well-known coal
operator, opened his house for relioious worship, and, being a local preacher,
conducted the services. The cause grew with the population of the then embryo
village. The old union church on Broad street was used until the society,
increased in numbers and influence, decided to build a church of its own. The
site was obtained, free, from the Little Schuylkill Company, and a neat,
substiantial and commodious structure of stone erected, which was dedicated by
Rev. Hugh Bourne, the venerable founder of Primitive Methodism, on the last
Sabbath of 1846. The trustees were William Donaldson, president; R. Nattrass,
secretary; R. Ratcliffe, treasurer; Charles Vaughan, Thomas Booth, William Wood
and Thomas Williams. A charter of incorporation was obtained in April, 1849.
For many years the charge was a part of the Pottsville circuit, but became
independent and selfsustaining in 1849. The following ministers have served
successively: Benjamin Webber, Charles Spurr, Thomas Foster, William Smith,
Alexander Miller, Joseph Fawcett, George Parker, Joseph Robinson, Daniel Savage
and Elijah Humphries. During the pastorate of Rev. Daniel Savage the old church
was taken down and a new one erected upon the site. It is of stone and brick,
44 by 70 feet, and cost $10,000, requiring $3,000 more to complete it. Rev.
Joseph Odell preached the dedicatory sermon, the last Sabbath of 1876, just
thirty years from the dedication of the first building. The Sabbath-school was
organized November 13th, 1842. The present officers are: G.W. Wilford,
superintendent; D.C. Baron, assistant; C.M. Greene, secretary; W.J. Booth,
treasurer. It numbers 35 teachers, 250 scholars, and owns an acre of ground at
"New England." The church has prospered under the present pastor. A
large portion of the debt has been paid and the membership increased to 158,
divided into three classes, under John Randall, Edward Davis and Rev. E.
Humphries, class leaders. The present trustees are W.H. Mucklow, president;
C.M. Greene, secretary; William Booth, J. Randall, Walter Randall, E.A. Jones,
J. Weston, Thomas Allen, George Wilford.
St.
John's Lutheran Church.-All early records of this church were burned. In 1835
the first Lutheran church, a frame building, was erected on Dutch hill, and the
present edifice in 1855. Rev. Mr. George was the first pastor. He was followed
by the Rev. Peter Oberfield, who was drowned in the flood of 1850. Rev. M.
Boyer came in 1872, followed by Rev. F.T. Hennicke, in 1877, and in 1881 by
Rev. H. Theodore Dueming. In 1876 the chapel at Mauch Chunk and Bridge streets
was erected. The history of St. John's Lutheran is that of the Reformed side
also. Many years this union church has exercised a power for much good in the
community, and to-day the membership is greater than that of any other
Protestant church.
St.
Jerome's Roman Catholic Church.-In 1836 the Catholic of Tamaqua, at one time strong
and powerful, built a church on the hill where their cemetery now stands. It
was a plain framed structure, and was removed in 1855, the congregation
locating their new edifice, a large stone building, 48 by 75 feet, with a
tower, on West Broad and Green streets. Rev. Father M.A. Walsh, now
vicar-general of Pennsylvania, superintended the erection. The edifice will
seat 900 people and there is a parsonage attached. The parish takes in Coal
Dale and Tuscarora, and is in a highly flourishing condition. Rev. Joseph
Bridgeman is the present father in charge. The value of the property is
$20,000.
St.
John's Reformed Church,-St. John's Church (Reformed and Lutheran), on Dutch
hill, was founded in 1835. A small framed building was erected about that time,
which stood until the summer of 1854, when the erection of the present brick
building was begun. The new church was dedicated in 1855. Rev. ----- George was
the first Lutheran pastor. In 1846 he left and was succeeded by Rev. Peter
Oberfield, who was drowned in the great freshet of 1850. During Mr. Oberfield's
pastorate Rev. William A. Helfrich, of the Reformed church, from Lehigh county,
served as a supply for a few years. After his withdrawal Rev. Robert VanCourt
became resident pastor, and from that time (1855) both congregations had
pastors residing in the place. St. John's appears to be the oldest Protestant
church organization in Tamaqua. A number of the other congregations in the
place have organized in the church on Dutch hill. The remaining organizations
have still a joint membership of more than 500. The present pastor, Rev. I.E.
Graeff, commenced his labors in October, 1878, succeeding Rev. Mr. Schwartz.
First
Methodist Episcopal Church.-Concerning the early organization of this church
the records are silent. The congregation worshipped in the old union church,
and afterward purchased a framed building which stood on the present location,
and which was 20 by 40 feet in size. In 1852 the contract was awarded to Isaiah
Wells to erect the present edifice, 43 by 75 feet, and it has stood without
alteration since. The church became a separate charge the same year. The
present pastor is Rev. John F. Meredith, brother to the Rev. Mr. Meredith who
was stationed over the charge in 1852. The trustees are A.H. Glassmire, George
Shoemaker, Jacob Kaucher, H.K. Aurand, J.M. Hadesty, Jesse Springer and C.F.
Lloyd.
The
Sunday-school has 250 members. The superintendent is Jackson L. Seiders. The
church building is free from debt, and there is a membership of 150. The church
and parsonage are estimated to be worth $13,000.
Evangelical
Church.-The first preaching in Tamaqua by ministers of the Evangelical
Association was in 1848, by Rev. G.T. Haines, at the house of Mr. Wiltermuth.
An organization of an association was not accomplished until 1851, by Rev.
Andrew Ziegenfuss, at the house of Philip Geissinger, the first members being
Emanuel Reich and his wife Mary, Philip and Kate Geissinger, Frederick Young
and wife, Joseph Strauss and wife, Samuel Schloyer and wife, David Fehr and
wife. Rev. Samuel Gaumer came in 1852, the church being then connected with
Schuylkill circuit, and in 1854 an effort was made at the annual conference, in
Pottsville; to have a missionary stationed here, but it failed. In 1855,
however, Rev. J. Eckert was sent as a missionary, who negotiated with the
Presbyterians for their old church edifice on Broad street, and removed it at
his own expense to Rowe street. Here the congregation worshipped until 1856,
when a chapel was built on Spruce street. The Tamaqua mission was put on
Schuylkill circuit that year, and in 1857 Rev. Ephraim Ely took charge,
succeeding Rev. R. Deisher. Catawissa class was annexed in 1858. Rev William
Bachman was appointed in 1860. Under his administration the congregation purchased
the property of the Baptists on Pine street, where the present edifice now
stands.
The
mission became a station in 1861, when Rev. Simon Reinohl took charge of the
work and organized the first Sunday-school. Rev. Anastasius Boetzel was
appointed in 1863, In the following year grave charges were made and sustained
against Boetzel, and part of the membership siding with him a branch church was
started in the old Spruce street chapel, but went out of existence the same
year. Rev. J.S. Marquardt came in 1865, and by a wise ministry healed the
breach.
The
corner stone of the present capacious frame building was laid out that year
"with masonic ceremony, which created some irritation and difference of
opinion." The new church was dedicated and occupied the same year. Rev. J.
Kutz came in 1866. Grave charges were made against him, sustained and found
true, and a committee declared him to suffer of spasmodic aberration of the
mind. His misdemeanors were very damaging to the church. In 1867 Rev. J.O. Lehr,
by good management, saved the church from the sheriff's hammer and cleared it
partly from grievous debt. The English language was introduced into the
services by Rev. W.K. Wiand, in 1868, but the congregation were not yet ready
for the change. Rev. Seneca Breyfogel came in 1870 and served three years
acceptably. The annual Conference was held in Tamaqua in 1873, and this church
became a distinct charge-Coal Dale Barnesville, and Rush being taken from it
and forming Barnesville circuit. Rev. J.C. Bliem became pastor and one hundred
and five were added to the church by the great revival of this year. He was
followed by I.K. Knerr in 1875, B.J. Smoyer in 1876, and Charles H. Egge in
1877, all men of power and ability, under whose ministry the church has grown
and prospered. The present membership is 283; that of the Sunday-school is 247.
The church is valued at $8,000 and it will seat 500 persons.
Welsh
Congregational Church.-The Welsh church in Tamaqua was built in 1851, and is a
very plain, modest edifice on Welsh hill, above Rowe street. The congregation
was organized in 1848, with a membership of 36. Rev. Thomas Jones, the first
rector, was in charge four years and was succeeded by Rev. J.M. Thomas, who
preached statedly some ten months, and was succeeded by Rev. William Thomas,
who resigned toward the close of 1855.
The
Sunday-school was organized in 1847, with 60 scholars. Rev. David E. Hughes is
the present pastor, having been called in 1875. The church, a framed building,
is valued, with the other property, at $1,200.
Calvary
Episcopal Church.-The history of this parish dates from April 30th, 1848. That
day the services of the Episcopal church were first held in Tamaqua. In the
morning Right Rev. Bishop Alonzo Potter consecrated Zion church in Tuscarora,
and in coming to Tamaqua in the afternoon his carriage was broken and his leg
badly injured. Revs. William Auddard, of Philadelphia, and Peter Russel, of
Mauch Chunk, in company with the bishop, conducted the services in the evening,
Rev. Mr. Auddard preaching in the Primitive Methodist, and Rev. Mr. Russel in
the Presbyterian place of worship, which were offered for the purpose. The
parish was organized March 27th, 1849. The first Sunday in April ensuing the
first stated services were held in the "town hall," Rev. A. Beatty,
rector, reading the service, and Rev. Thomas A. Starkey, of Pottsville,
preaching the sermon.
At
the same time a Sunday-school was organized of 80 members and 15 teachers.
Regular services were held, subscriptions were opened for building a church,
and a "ladies' sewing circle" was organized. A lot of ground was
obtained from the Little Schuylkill Railroad Company, and the vestry decided,
in view of the amount raised, to begin the work. Thursday afternoon, June 26th,
1851, the corner stone was laid by Rt. Rev. Bishop Potter, there being present
Rev. Peter Russel, of Mauch Chunk; Rev. William C. Cooley, of Pottsville; Rev.
Azariah Prior, of Schuylkill Haven, and the rector. The church was opened to
public worship Good Friday, April 9th, 1852, the rector, who had just recovered
from a three months' illness, preaching the sermon. The first administration of
holy communion was given May 1st, 1852. The edifice was consecrated by Bishop
Potter, Sunday, June 19th, 1853; Rev. Samuel Hazlehurst, Rev. Peter Russel,
Rev. Aaron Christman (ordained in this church, July 11th, 1852,) and the
rector, assisted in the services.
March
18th, 1854, Rev. Joseph A. Stone, a presbytery of the diocese, entered upon his
duties as rector of the parish, Rev. Mr. Beatty having resigned June 26th,
1853. An organ was purchased in September, 1858, and gas introduced into the
building in December of the same year, at a cost of $80. Mr. Stone resigned his
charge March 4th, 1860. Revs. H. Baldy, William Wilson, J.L. Murphy and H.S.
Getz followed until 1869, and the parish was without a rector until October
1st, 1871, when Rev. Chandler Hare became pastor. He also took charge of St.
Philip's church, Summit Hill. He resigned the parish February 1st, 1878. Rev.
W.J. Miller followed as rector, in November, 1878, and resigned in November,
1880. He was succeeded by the present rector, the Rev. William B. Burke.
Calvary
Church is 46 by 34 feet, built of stone, with a square tower and a bell. The audience
room will seat 240 persons. The property is valued at $5,000. the Sunday-school
meets in the basement.
First
Presbyterian Church.-As a chartered organization the Presbyterian church of
Tamaqua dates from May 18th, 1851. In the summer of 1837 a union church was
built, to which Presbyterians contributed, but in which the Methodist Episcopal
and Primitive Methodist churches held services. The first Presbyterian service
was held Sabbath evening December 24th, 1837, by Rev. Richard Webster, a pioneer
missionary through this section. In 1838 the church at Summit Hill and Tamaqua
was organized by the Presbytery of Newton, New Jersey. Port Clinton was also
part of the same church, Rev. Richard Webster preaching there in 1839,
receiving in that year Mr. and Mrs. George Wiggan, of the Presbyterian church
in Philadelphia. Mr. Wiggan, honored in years and good deeds, has been ruling
elder of this church forty-two years. Rev. Dr. Schenck labored in this field in
18423 and in 1845 the Luzerne Presbytery arranged to give a monthly supply. In
1846 the presbytery appointed Revs. Webster, Harned and Moore, with three
elders, to organize an independent church at Tamaqua, and, after three
attempts, it was accomplished in May, 1846. Mr. Webster with Mr. Edgar, of summit
Hill, met the Presbyterians of Tamaqua in Mr. Heaton's parlor, now Mr. Beard's,
when the church was organized with ten members-George Wiggan and Susannah, his
wife; Mrs Sarah Heaton, Miss Ely McNeill, Mrs. M.H. Hunter, form the Summit
Hill church; William Laird and Ann, his wife, from the Free church, Scotland;
Sidney Arms, Mrs. Mary Heaton, wife of R.A. Heaton, from the Methodist
Episcopal church, Tamaqua; and John Hendricks and Ely Josephine, his wife, from
the Eleventh church, Philadelphia. Mr. Wiggan and Mr. Laird were elected elders
and installed by Rev. W.W. Bonnel, of Port Carbon, July 26th, 1846.
Rev.
B.F. Bittinger became first pastor, in 1847, at a salary of $300. Rev. Charles
Glenn began his pastorate, in January, 1852, and during it the present handsome
stone edifice on West Broad street was built. Messrs. Newkirk & Buck, of
Philadelphia, gave $6,000-the whole cost being $8,500. At the same time a
double cottage was erected back of the church as a parsonage, but those
instructed to secure the deed neglected it, and Mr. Glenn was greatly surprised
one fine morning when presented with a bill for $150, for rent due the company
that had purchased the lands of Newkirk & Buck. Rev. Mr. Glenn resigned
August 17, 1856, and in January, 1857, Rev. J.H. Callen began his labors,
continuing to April, 1859. He was succeeded by Rev. William Thompson in
February, 1860. During his pastorate the church at Mahanoy City was organized,
1863, and for some time he preached to both charges. In July, 1868, Rev.
Benjamin C. Meeker succeeded Mr. Thompson, who closed his eight years'
pastorate. In 1876-77 the church was remodeled and refurnished, Elder George
Wiggan contributing $1,500. The church to-day is in a flourishing condition.
The Literary Institute has been in operation five years, and is considered a
town institution. The membership at this time (January, 1881) is 87; of the
Sunday-school, is 150. The value of the church property is $20,000. The church
seats 600.
Zion's
English Evangelical Lutheran Church.-This church started as a colony from St.
John's Lutheran Church, Dutch hill, the first meeting taking place in
Seitzinger's hall, January 27th, 1876, attended by 48 persons. The organization
of the Sabbath-school occurred December 5th, 1875, with 80 scholars. The
present handsome frame edifice was built in 1876, largely by Mr. John Zehner,
and its cost, with its furniture, was $5,500. The presentable pastor, Rev.
William H. Laubenstein, entered upon his duties October 1st, 1877.
The
Sunday-school superintendents have been John Zehner, Charles Steigerwalt, Henry
A. Kauffman, William A. Snyder, John Whetstone, Henry A. Kauffman and John
Semback. The present church membership is 205. The Sunday-school numbers 250.
Trinity
Reformed Church.-The Trinity Reformed congregation of Tamaqua was organized by
the authority of the Lebanon Classis, August 19th, 1877, and the corner stone
of the present frame building at Washington and Jefferson streets was laid
September 2nd, 1867. While the church was being erected the congregation held
their services in the Welsh church. No regular pastor was called until
September 19th, 1868, when the Rev. I.E. Graeff was elected. His pastorate
continued until March 13th, 1873, and during it 62 were baptized, 24 confirmed,
28 persons received by certificate and profession, and 28 funerals attended.
December 21st, 1873, Rev. J.H. Hartman received and accepted a call. He labored
until February 1st, 1880, and during that time baptized 210 children, confirmed
34, received by certificate 46, and officiated at 86 funerals. January 18th,
1880, Rev. John J. Fisher, the present pastor, took charge, and was ordained
February 5th, and during the years he has received 12 by confirmation, 10 by
certificate, and officiated at 4 funerals.
The
congregation originally consisted of 53 members, and the first consistory was
as follows: Elders-Peter Hartman and Matthias Haldeman; deacons-August
Wetterau, L.F. Fritsch, Jacob Eisenacher and George Eckhardt.
Go to
the Schuylkill Region Development Page
About
The Hopkin Thomas Project
Rev.
October 2010