COAL WAS REGAL AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Monday, August 31, 1987

    
. . .Soon after Welch's report (1873)  went public, the coal rush 
was on.  The Pocahontas Coalfield, which is a territory composed 
of seven counties. . .was developed.
     
The coal discoveries were just in time for the American Industrial 
Revolution. . .The Norfolk and Western Railway already had shipped 
its first load of coal in March 1883 over the New River line.
     
Norfolk & Western, through a subsidiary company,  had acquired 
ownership of the Old Wilson Cary Nicholas patent, and it leased 
the land to various [coal]  pioneers. . .The leases averaged 
1,000 acres, and the leasee was required to build beehive coke 
ovens for every 10 acres leased. . .
     
As coal and railroading became the economic giants, industries 
such as timbering and farming took a back seat.
     
At the turn of the century, mines could be opened with a 
relatively small capital investment.  Mining companies were 
required to build houses for miners, stores to supply them and 
tipple structures to dump the coal.  Many mining companies 
were organized with no more than $20,000-$30,000.
     
At that time, a "Jenny Lind" three-room house could be erected 
for $50.  No machinery was required because miners supplied their 
own tools, such as picks, shovels, and aces.
     
In 1904, the average cost of producing a long ton of coal 
(2,240 lbs.) was 85 cents, while the selling price was 80 cents.  
The five cent loss was more than made up from rents and store 
profits.
     
Miners loaded coal by hand and were paid a few cents a ton.  
The miners were assigned numbers that were attached to coal 
cars.  Bosses totaled the number of tons of coal loaded per 
miner, per shift.  Payday was every two weeks.
     
All the coal companies issued its own metal script in 
denominations of one, five, ten, twenty-five, and fifty cents 
and one dollar, but it was a common practice of miners to sell 
the script for cash at a discount. . .
     
Pocahontas coal was a top-quality steam and metallurgical coal.  
The coke produced was excellent for the steel industry, 
especially when used in blasting furnances to upgrade iron 
to steel.  The Pocahontas coal was also used by navies because 
of its "smokeless" nature.  In the early decades of the 20th 
Century, the chief users of coal were railroads, domestic users, 
power plants and steel mills. . .