Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1895 — BIG COAL PILES. [ARTICLE]

BIG COAL PILES.

They Are Worth from $36,000 to $40,000 Apiece. Thousands of tons of anthracite and bituminous coal are shipped from South Amboy, N. J., and from Perth Amboy, just opposite. The Lehigh Valley Railroad docks at Perth Amboy are among the largest of the kind in the world, while those owned and controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in this town fall little short of the capacity ol the Lehigh docks. In the shipment of coal from these ports, one of the problems which is continually puzzling the railroad companies is to keep the rollingstock constantly in motion. For a number of years the coal was allowed to stand in the cars until the vessels were ready at the docks to receive the cargo. At times there would be three or four hundred cars loaded with coal in the South Amboy yards practically tied up for two or three weeks, As It was to the interest of the company to keep the cars continually moving, it became a serious matter. The difficulty was finally solved, and now in place of the'train after train of cars in the South Amboy yards may be seen immense piles of coal, half the size of a large circus tent.

As soon as a train load reaches South Amboy the cars are unloaded and the coal placed in these piles by means of an ingenious device consisting of traveling elevator buckets held in position by large swinging derricks and operated by a small engine. The coal falls from the outlet under the cars and is carried to the top of the heap by means of the endless elevator. Here it lies until ready for loading, when it is reloaded in the cars by means of the same apparatus and transferred to the hold of the coasting steamer or “tramp” ocean steamer. As a rule, the piles usually contain about 9,000 tons each, and each is worth $86,000 to SIO,OOO, according to the market value of the coal. At times there are twelve or fourteen of these coal piles in the yards at South Amboy. Recently canvas has been used to cover each pile to prevent the coal from “rusting,” which, while not affecting its burning qualities, detracts from its market value. The canvas covers cost SI,OOO and $1,200 each, and the stock-yard looks as though Barnum’s Circus had found a permanent camping place. The immense piles of coal create no feeling of wonder to the local residents, who look upon them as a matter of course, but they are a source of great wonderment to the residents of the city, whose conception of a large amount of coal is at best yague.