History of Western Maryland. J. Thomas Scharf
side some of the smaller veins penetrate through Davis Mountain and overlook the Potomac River. On the west this coal-bed does not go to the summit of Savage Mountain, much less crop out on the eastern side of Savage Mountain, though maps are not wanting to show that even the Big Vein extends through and overlooks Savage River.
This coal-field is in one continuous bed at Frostburg, extending from one mountain to the other, and a little below the Big Vein is washed out by George's Creek for a short distance; it is then continuous from side to side until near Wright's mill, where George's Creek again cuts through it. From this point south the Big Vein is separated into two parts by the valley of George's Creek, and serrated by the numerous small streams which are its tributaries. North of Frostburg the coal-vein is divided into three parts by the valley of Jennings' Run and Braddock's Run. The extent of the other veins, being much lower than this, embrace a much larger area, inasmuch as some are but slightly and others not at all injured by the denudations of George's Creek, Jennings' Run, and Braddock's Run.
The veins of this coal-basin amount to about fifteen, many of them, however, of no value. The chief veins are, first, a three-foot vein: second, the Big Vein, or fifteen-foot vein, as it has been called; third, the eight-foot vein, composed of two distinct veins of coal separated by a bed of fire-brick clay about two feet in thickness; fourth, the six-foot vein; fifth, the forty-inch vein, — this is about forty-four inches in i thickness; and a vein of about two feet in thickness. There are others to the amount of five or six, perhaps more, lying at different depths below.
The only veins whose coal is worked for exportation are the Big Vein, the six-foot vein, and the forty-four-inch vein. In the valley of Jennings' Run several small veins are worked for the Mount Savage Company, and for domestic purposes in the immediate neighborhood. Mining operations were carried on here at one time for foreign use, but the Big Vein gradually absorbed the force at work on these ventures. The Big Vein is that which has given the high reputation to the Maryland coal, and constitutes to a great extent the real capital of most of the corporations in this county, and must be for a long time the basis for valuable tolls on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The thickness of this vein, as we have stated, varies in different sections of the coal-field, being thinner on its northeastern border, on the extreme edge of which it is about nine feet. At Frostburg its workable thickness is about eleven feet, whilst in the middle and southwestern sections fourteen are claimed by those holding property there.
The average thickness of workable mercantile coal is about eleven feet. Neither the exact size of this coalfield, nor the extent of any of its seams can be determined save by a very accurate trigonometrical survey. The estimates made here are only approximations derived from detached surveys of different tracts belonging to different companies or individuals. The most reliable estimates agree in giving the number of acres of the Big Vein at about twenty thousand. It hardly exceeds that amount. This vein does not extend beyond the Withers property, northeast of Frostburg; and here it is extensively denuded by Jennings' and Braddock's Run. A short distance below the National road George's Creek washes it down. It then sinks below the level of George's Creek, but even here to what extent it suffers by insufficient covering has yet to be ascertained. It is probable that much of it between Frostburg & Wright's mill is unfit for mercantile purposes. This vein is impaired by the washing of the following streams, which are tributaries to George's Creek: Koontz's Run, Laurel Run, Bartlett's Run, Jackson's Run, and Moore's Run, on the south. At Wright's mill, George's Creek has formed a valley below the level of this seam, which widens until it reaches the Potomac. The Potomac River has also washed out the seam to a great extent, none of it being found to exist on the Maryland side above Bloomington, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, though the eight-foot vein, the six-foot, and other small veins of the coal formation exist here. The six-foot and smaller veins embrace a much larger area than the Big Vein. They do not suffer so much by denudation, and comprise more than eighty thousand acres, cropping out on the eastern slopes of Davis Mountain; they lie much below the denudation of George's Creek, and extend far towards the summit of the Great Savage Mountain, and for miles up the Potomac above Piedmont. The veins which will for a long time to come furnish the country with Cumberland coal are the Big Vein, from which by far the largest quantity will come, the six-foot vein, and the forty-four-inch vein. According to an estimate by the State agricultural chemist, made in 1854, the Big Vein contained 354,933,333 tons of coal; deducting one-fourth for wastage of every kind, and there would be then expected from the vein 266,200,000 tons of mercantile coal. The six-foot vein contained in each acre 9680 tons of coal, equal to 774,400,000 tons; deducting as above, and it would be capable of furnishing 580,800,000 tons of coal. The four-foot contained in each acre 6050 tons of coal, and the whole vein ought, therefore, to produce 363,000,000, after making the same deductions.
These three veins then, according to the estimate of 1854, would furnish the following quantities:
Big Vein 266,200,000 tons.
Six-foot vein 580,800,000 "
Forty-four-inch vein 363,000,000 "
Total 1,210,000,000 "
This estimate is for these three veins alone, and is rather below than above their actual capacity. A very modest estimate by thoroughly competent persons has placed the available amount of mercantile coal in the Allegany coal-beds at 4,000,000,000 tons.
If the quality of an article be all that is necessary to insure its proper appreciation, the coal of Allegany would have no rival in many branches of industry. For the generation of steam or for manufacturing purposes it is unequaled. In fuel for the generation of steam three things are especially required, quickness of combustion, continuance of combustion, and steady combustion. Fuel should take fire rapidly, it should burn for a long time, and its intensity should not be diminished by fresh additions of material. Any substance possessing all these qualities would be a perfect fuel, and the coal from this region is unapproachable in these qualities. In the chemical constituents are a large percentage of carbon, a small percentage of ashes, a trace of sulphur and nitrogen, very little water, and a moderate quantity of bitumen. This bitumen, if in excess, as in many of the bituminous coals, would give a very rapid fire, but one of short duration. If less than this, or none at all, as in the anthracite, it would be a very slow combustion, though it might last for a long time, but at every fresh addition of coal the fire would be deadened, and the amount of steam lessened until fuel combustion again took place. A coal then, for steam generation, should contain enough of bitumen to make it readily inflammable, so as to burn quickly and not deaden the fire with each fresh addition of it, and such a proportion of carbon as to maintain a uniform heat for a long time, and in these conditions the Cumberland coal stands without a rival. Use has fully confirmed the scientific deductions made from its chemical composition.
In the year 1844 a report was made to the Navy Department by Prof Johnson, " on American coals, applicable to steam navigation and other purposes." Full and fair trial was given to all the American coals by an extended series of practical tests, which resulted in placing the coal of this field above that of every other inevaporative power, both as to equal weights, and what in navigation is of the greatest consequence, equal bulks. That is to say, a pound of coal or a bushel of coal from this region will generate more steam than the same amount of coal from any other mines in the country. Wherever this coal has had a fair trial the results have been the same. It is scarcely necessary to mention its unquestioned superiority for locomotives and stationary engines.
The tendency now is to concentrate the carrying trade of the world in long narrow ships of immense tonnage, propelled by steam, and swiftness is a paramount consideration, and the navies of all nations have discarded sailing-vessels. A man-of-war requires a fuel which can speedily generate and keep up a steady head of steam, whether in pursuit of, flying from, or in actual combat with an enemy, and the competition everywhere developed in the merchant marine of the world makes this a matter of no less importance to the shipping interests. The demand, therefore, for coal from Allegany must greatly increase with every year.
Cumberland coal has been carried around the Horn to stations on the Pacific, and despite the great cost of transportation its superior qualities have commended it to the shipping lines on that ocean. The completion of the many projected highways through Mexico and the Central American States and the construction of the Panama Canal