In treating of so large a theme in so small a compass it is impossible to do more than make an outline sketch. It has been the aim of the author to give reliable information free from minute details and technicalities. That information has been, for the most part, gathered through personal experience in the mines. The literature of this special subject is very meagre, and the author is unable to acknowledge any real indebtedness to more than half a dozen volumes. First among these is the valuable treatise on “Coal Mining,” by H. M. Chance of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey. Other volumes from which the author has derived considerable information are the State geological reports of Pennsylvania, the mine inspector’s reports of the same State, and the “Coal Trade Annuals,” issued by Frederick E. Saward of New York.

The author desires also to acknowledge his indebtedness for valuable assistance in the preparation of this work to John B. Law and Andrew Bryden, mining superintendents, and George Johnson, real estate agent, all of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, at Pittston, Pennsylvania, and to the officers of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.

HOMER GREENE.

Honesdale, Pa.,
May 15, 1889.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE
I.[In the Beginning]1
II.[The Composition of Coal]6
III.[When Coal was Formed]14
IV.[How the Coal Beds Lie]22
V.[The Discovery of Coal]35
VI.[The Introduction of Coal into Use]51
VII.[The Way into the Mines]75
VIII.[A Plan of a Coal Mine]94
IX.[The Miner at Work]112
X.[When the Mine Roof Falls]127
XI.[Air and Water in the Mines]147
XII.[The Dangerous Gases]159
XIII.[The Anthracite Coal Breaker]176
XIV.[In the Bituminous Coal Mines]192
XV.[The Boy Workers at the Mines]204
XVI.[Miners and their Wages]222

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE
[COLUMNAR SECTION OF THE EARTH’S CRUST]5
[VERTICAL SECTION THROUGH SOUTHERN COAL FIELD]26
[VERTICAL SECTION THROUGH NORTHERN COAL FIELD]26
[OLD OPENING INTO AN OUT-CROP OF THE BALTIMORE VEIN]30
[MAP SHOWING ANTHRACITE COAL FIELDS OF PENNSYLVANIA]57
[CROSS SECTION OF DRIFT OR GANGWAY WITH TIMBERS AND LAGGING]81
[CROSS SECTION OF SLOPE WITH DOUBLE TRACK]85
[VERTICAL SECTION AT FOOT OF SHAFT, WITH ASCENDING CARRIAGE]90
[A PLAN OF AN ANTHRACITE MINE WITH A SHAFT ENTRANCE]103
[GROUND PLAN AND LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF CHAMBER]109
[MINER’S TOOLS]121
[GANGWAY IN KOHINOOR COLLIERY, NEAR SHENANDOAH, PA.]140
[THE SLOAN COAL BREAKER, HYDE PARK, PA.]177
[SCREEN-ROOM IN BREAKER, SHOWING SCREEN AND SHUTES]187
[PLAN OF A BITUMINOUS COAL MINE]196
[SLATE PICKERS AT WORK]217

COAL AND THE COAL MINES.