Jasper County Democrat, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 January 1902 — COAL. [ARTICLE]

COAL.

According to a comprehensive survey of the coal field of Indiana under the direction of Prof. Blatchley, the efficient stats geologist—the first accurate geological survey showing the exact location of the coal deposits of the state—there are about T,OOO square miles in Indiana underlaid bv coal. This Is about the aggregate area of the coal fields of Europe exclusive of England. The Indiana coal deposits are confined to the southwestern part of the state. There are between twenty and thirty horizons In which the coal occurs, of which five contain workable coal over large areas, and at least seven others contain workable coal over small areas. The workable coal runs from three to ten feet In thickness. The upper beds, known as •’bituminous” coal, average toetween four and five feet thick, while the lower or "block” or "semi-block” cc.nl seams average three feet one inch. The upper beds occur In large basins, often hundreds of miles In area. The lower beds are naually In email basins from a few acres to several square miles. In these basins the coal Is thick in the center and thins toward the edges. AS the Indiana coal field is a part of the eastern edge of the Illinois “coal basin.” the coal beds have a general dip and get deeper toward the center of the Illinois basin at a point in southern Illinois. On this account only, the lowest coni bed Is found along the eastern edge of the Indiana coal field. The east edge of thefield Includes the eastern parts of Fountain. Parke and Putnam counties, the eastern four-fifths of Greene. Martin, Dubois, Spencer and Perry counties, and the western parts of Orange and Crawford counties. Going westward this coal measure descends or dips at the rate of twentyfour feet per mile, and gradually the other beds set In until, along Ihe M abash river, the lowest bed, which outcrops through Owen and Martin counties, may be *OO feet below the surface, or below sea level. But as many as sixteen other beds have been found above It In a drill at Vincennes with a total thickness of coal there of thirty-four feet. In very few localities can more than one or two beds be worked at th# same point. Through the middle regions three or more beds are being worked at a alngle point. None of the lower beds can be -corked In the western part of the field on account of their depth. What Is known as “coal 3” and “coal 4.” tlie block coal of Clay and Parke, and "coal 4" of Linton. Greene county. Is too deep to work In Sullivan and Knox, on account of the twenty-four-foot per mile dip southward .—et least under existing conditions. Location of Beds.

In the eastern edge of the Indiana coal field workable coal Is found In a limited quantity. Practically, there are no workable coal deposits In Putnam. Orange and Crawford. There is workable coal In two townships in Owen. West of this lower coal belt Is another belt from ten to twenty miles wide, where the coal deposits are still shallow, the mines seldom reaching 100 feet In depth. This belt reaches western Fountain and Greene, central Parke and Clay, central Daviess and eastern Pike and Warrick counties. The country is flat and rolling. The coal is found In deposits, but block or semi-block is largely workable. The Brasil block coal and Parke county block and Linton semiblock coal 1# mined In this belt. On account of the blocky character of the coal mining operations have been more extensive In this belt than In the higher belts. The third belt west of this, which covers Vermillion, southwestern Parke.western Clay and Daviess, eastern Sullivan and Knox.western Daviess and Vlgo.Plke and Warrick counties, is from ten to twenty miles wide. The upper coals are near the outcrop and extensively mined. The coals of the second belt east of thle are too deep here to mine, except In few places. Most of the mines of Indiana are in these two belts—the second and third. The fourth belt west of this, which extends Into Illinois, comprises the counties of Gibson. Vanderburg and Posfey. and western Sullivan and Knox. The drill there reveals all the coal seams found In the state, some sixteen In number. -e lower coals here are below the sea level and thin and not workable. The upper coals are of workable thickness, but on account of their depth—2oo to 400 feet—development here has been retarded, capital having been attracted to the shallower coals in the middle belts. But It Is only a question of time when these deeper coal seams which comprise the greatest deposits of the Indiana ~-»d will be extensively worked. The regions where the most active operations in mining are being carried on are Greene. Sullivan. Clay. Vigo, southern Parke and Vermillion counties. Linton In Greene county Is growing to be the great coal center of the state. The block coal deposits of Clay county begin to show signs of exhaustion, but the other coals of Clay will not be exhausted for many years to come. Parke, Sullivan. Vigo and Greene counties seem to contain the largest area of workable coal at shallow depth, but their deposits have hardly been touched. Gibson, Knox. Fountain and Vanderburg contain large areas of undeveloped coal lands. There Is a fine vein of coal ("coal 6”) outcropping or near the surface through Pike and Warrick counties, which is of more than average thickness, and which has hardly been touched. Daviess county has been, and Is yet a great producer of coal, and there are still large areas of good workable coal. The western part of Greene Is all underlain with wovkabie coal. Except at Linton, where coal mining is now conducted on a large scale, this field remains practically Intact. There are limited areas of unmlnnd block coal In the southeastern part of Parke ■Bounty and the western part of Clay county, and In Owen county near Patrlckstfurg. In Fountain county there are numerous basins of workable coal, which have never been worked, but they have been sufficiently prospected to establish their existence In workable quantities. Forty Billion Tons. Prof. Blatchley estimates that there are 40,000.000,000 tons of coal in Indiana, of which one-fifth or 8.000,000,000 are estimated to be workable under the present conditions. He eetlmatee that 100.000,000 tons or 1-400 of the total amount or 1-80

of ths workable amount have been mined, and that at the present rate of production the Indiana coal field will last not less than 800 years. The coking of Indiana coal le still a small Industry, but It has proceeded far enough to demonstrate that the upper coals, especially ’’coals 5, 6 and 7,” will make good coking coal, requiring about three tons of coal to make one of coke. With the gradual substitution of coal for natural gas In Indianapolis and other Indiana cities and towns the demand for coke for heating purposes will not fall to stimulate the coking Industry In Indiana. According to the report of State Mine Inspector Epperson 5,865,000 tons of coal were mined in 1889. This was an Increase of 690,000 tons over the year 1898. In 1900 the output was 6.283,000 tons, an Increase over 1899 of 443,000 tons. Last year Indiana coal displaced 600,000 tons of Illinois coal in the Chicago markets. During the past eighteen months there be# been great activity in the Investment of new capital In coal landa While considerable of It was Invested simply tor speculates purposes, twenty to thlily new mines were opened up In 1900, ai d more than a dozen in 1901. The large addition of new mines In 1900 was due chiefly to the opening of new fields by the extension of the Southern Indiana railroad from Linton to Terre Haute and tho projection of branches into Sullivan county from the main line. It was also Influenced by the diminution of the natural gas supply ‘and th# consequent enlargement of the Chicago market. At present the output of coal Is only limited by the capacity of the railroads to furnish coal cars to the operators. In 1900 the total amount of wages paid amounted to *4,843,343, and the number of men employed was about 10,000 or about the same number of men employed In the Butte, Mont., copper mines.