Talbot and Renton mines.The Talbot and Renton mines, ten miles from Seattle, are on the same seam, but, owing to faults and other causes, they have not been worked of late. The seam is seven to nine feet of good coal, resembling the Newcastle, but has a bad roof, and soon reaches water. The dip is to the southeast at the grade of 10° to 25°. The outcrop curves as at Cedar Mountain. This always bodes trouble.
Newcastle Mine.The principal mine in this basin is the Newcastle, from which more coal by far has been mined than from any other. Its present annual output is equaled only by the Carbonado mines, which are pressed to their full capacity by the Central Pacific Railroad. The Newcastle coal is a high grade lignite, of firm texture, shining black color, and angular fracture. It is not a coking coal, but has a wide and established reputation for grate, stove, and boiler uses. It is the typical "Seattle" coal, and is sold chiefly in Oregon and California. (To-day, owing to scarcity, it would bring $25 per ton in Los Angeles). It has not the heating power of bituminous coal, but it is greatly superior to many of the lignitic coals. Many difficulties have been met with in the mining at Newcastle, the most of which seem to have been owing to the necessity for mining on the down grade, or fall of the coal; and the mines being now 1,000 feet deep.
I was twice at these mines, but, owing to the just previous destruction of the hoisting machinery, I could not make an examination.
An additional difficulty was that the mine had taken fire.
Cost of mining.The cost of mining at Newcastle has ranged from 85 cents to $1.50 per ton, averaging about $1.10.
According to Governor Squire, in 1884, the beds mined at Newcastle were, beginning at the lowest, 14 feet, 10 feet, and 5 feet in thickness. The dip is 30° to 40° northward, and the trend north 80° west. Governor Semple gives the following as the output of the Newcastle mines from June 30, 1878, to June 30, 1887:Large production.
| 1879 | 127,381 | |
| 1880 | 128,853 | |
| 1881 | 149,602 | |
| 1882 | 158,340 | |
| 1883 | 218,742 | |
| 1884 | 149,948 | |
| 1885 | 149,050 | |
| 1886 | 85,561 | |
| 1887 | 140,701 | |
| Total | 1,308,178 | |
| Average per year | 145,353 |
"The great falling off in the output for 1886 is attributable mainly to the labor troubles of that year, the mine being closed for several months; also the abandonment of the workings from the No. 4 vein."
The slope has now been sunk to a depth of 950 feet, and the mine is being operated entirely from this level. When this lift is finished, it is thought that several others of equal depth can be sunk as the basin is likely to be very deep.
Misrepresentation.After writing the foregoing, I received a volume issued annually by the United States Geological Survey on the Mineral Resources of the United States for 1886; and on page 364 I read with surprise the following statements in regard to the Newcastle mines of Washington Territory: "Considerable iron pyrites is present in this coal, which fact, added to the chaff-like character of the coal for igniting, causes much annoyance and cost to the mine from fires. Coal, or the mine refuse, piled in large quantities quickly ignites."