A Report on Washington Territory

by William Henry Ruffner

I knew when I was in the Territory that the mine was on fire, as I have heretofore stated; but I heard no intimation of spontaneous combustion. In fact, I was told that it was accidental.

I wrote at once to Mr. David T. Day, of the Government Survey, who is the present editor of this valuable work, asking his authority for such statements concerning this mine as had never, so far as I knew, been made before; though the mines have been described, or mentioned, in all the preceding volumes of the same work, and were mentioned with approval by Bailey Willis, Goodyear, and all other writers on the resources of Washington Territory. Moreover, that I had spent weeks in the neighborhood of the mines, and never heard anything of iron pyrites or spontaneous combustion.

Mr. Day replied that he had no personal knowledge on the subject; but that those statements had been furnished him by Mr. James F. Jones, who is connected with some mining operations along the Northern Pacific Railway.

I wrote also to Mr. F. H. Whitworth, of Seattle, calling his attention to the above statements, and asking what was the truth of the matter. I received his reply just in time to insert in this Report. I copy below all that he says on the subject, which puts a different face on the matter.

"No, I do not think there is any of any consequence of iron pyrite in the Newcastle mines. Nor do I consider that the fires in the mine Correction by Mr. Whitworth.originated in the decomposition of the pyrites. The fire in the mine originally started in the 'gob,' close to the furnace used for ventilation, and where the ashes of the furnace were thrown. Therefore, I have always believed that the fire was not spontaneous in its origin. The fire originated in the upper water level 'lift.' But it was led down into the second and third 'lifts' by carelessly breaking through the chain pillar, and thus letting the fire down. Several years before the fire started in the mine, and about three-quarters of a mile, or a mile, west of the point where it started, by careless mining and drawing of pillars, there was a 'squeeze,' and the mine heated; the result, I think, of the crush; but the mine did not fire. While you were out here the mines were in danger of firing, and when the cause was not the proximity of the present fire—but that, too, I think, was brought on by reckless mining. Running their 'breasts' 75 feet wide and more, and leaving only skeleton pillars, a 'squeeze,' of course, resulted, and the crushing produced the heat, and it did finally fire. The crushing being so great that the top work came down to within five or six inches of the bottom, you see easily producing crushing sufficient to cause fire.

"But the coal does fire outside spontaneously, or rather the slack does, when it is piled in considerable quantities, and after a year or more of exposure. The combustion in the slack piles usually commences in the firing of the shaley cap rock, which is thrown in with the slack as the rock disintegrates, or as that process goes on with the 'nigger-heads' thrown into the slack pile. And yet I feel satisfied that the slack piles fire when there appears to be almost none of the rock or 'nigger-head' in it. Two conditions, I think, are required: first, that the slack particles be small, and second, that large quantities of water be present. And I have supposed the heat and firing was caused by changing of the conditions; small particles of slack by disintegration to much smaller particles.

"And yet it may be possible that there may be sulphur in the form of pyrite present in sufficient quantity to do its work. Very semi-occasionally, very seldom, I have seen in the sulphur streaks some slight indications of pyrite; but generally the sulphur streaks, or balls, seem to be composed almost entirely of sand, with very little sulphur, and some coaly matter.

"The coal never has fired on shipboard.

"I remember that, several years, ago Mr. Howard, of the O. I. Co., had collected and stored in his yard in San Francisco, Cal., in one pile, several thousand tons of Newcastle coal, and was carrying it for some time in stock, and that he complained that his coal was heating, and feared fire. Since then they [have not] stowed in such large piles, nor carried stock so long.

"No, sir; the sulphur that we rooted [out] at Gilman was not in form of pyrite, nor have I seen any so far. I do not fear spontaneous combustion, because in the Newcastle, when it has occurred, it has resulted from carelessness."

This statement from Mr. Whitworth is certainly satisfactory on the main point, namely, that there is nothing in this suggestion which need diminish the reputation of the Newcastle coal as a stocking and shipping coal.

In 1884, Mr. Jones (the same man) made a special report to Governor Squire on the coals of Washington Territory, in which he describes the Newcastle coal, speaking of it most highly, and saying nothing of spontaneous combustion. He uses the following language concerning the Newcastle coal: "The coal is taken from three beds, and is commercially known as the 'Seattle lignite,' having a bright lustre and good fracture. It is a good and choice fuel for steam generating and for domestic use. The condition of the coal adds much to its value."

d. The Squak Creek, Raging River, and Snoqualmie Group.—These are not all in the same hydrographic basin, but they are considered together because they are the coals which will be reached by the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railroad. A great outcrop of coal seams occurs in the valley of Squak Creek in the mountain spur which lies between Squak and the Newcastle mines. These seams are now being opened by theGilman Mines. Seattle Coal and Iron Company, and are known as "The Gilman Mines."

Structure of Squak Mountain.The geological structure of the Squak Mountain and its coal seams is peculiar. With all their local irregularities, the general trend of the coal-bearing rocks in Washington Territory is north and south; so determined by the line of the Cascade Mountains, which is the main axis of elevation, with numerous subordinate and parallel axes. But on Squak Mountain we find the whole group of rocks and coal seams whirled at right angles to the general line. In other words, their general direction is east and west, instead of north and south, and the rocks lie in regular order against their central axis, dipping northward at a high angle, and showing no fault, so far as I know, except, possibly, a vertical fracture somewhere in the mountain, as suggested by a change of 38° in the strike at a point about one mile west of the outcrop on Squak. If the fracture exists, it does not follow that there is any serious dislocation. These coal seams are thus carried almost squarely across the spur from Squak Creek to Coal Creek, or from the Gilman Mines to the Newcastle Mines.

The simple explanation is, that, in the upheaval of the country, the Squak Mountain was made by a cross axis of elevation which runs east and west, or at right angles with the Cascade Mountains. Its metamorphic core shows itself along the crest of the mountain.