IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) t ^ // <^.^ <. t" A (/.. 1.0 I.I 1.25 *r iiM 11^ IIM 12.0 U IIIIII.6 ^a ^'W ^ ^fm, ^^r ^» '^<- .f» /. y ^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^. CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut canadien de microreproductions historiques 1980 i. Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a ix6 possible de se procurer. 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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux. et'~.. peuvent Atre filmAs i des taux de reduction diiT brents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA. il est filmA d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche it droite. et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^OVA SCOT/4 PROVINCE HOUSE I Section IV., 1806. [167] Trans. R. 8. C. ■-*' X[. — Coal Mininij in Pictou County. By E. Gilpin, Jb., LL.D., Inspector of MiiieN, Nova Scotia. s see.n » have been guided as to the ownership of the minerals by the condition., of those domains in England most directlj' vested in the Crown. This is noticeable in the short term leases at tiret granted for mining coal ; and down to a few years ago in the granting of gold leases for a term of twenty-one yeai-s, equivalent to three of the customary leases of seven yeara each, and renew- able, as was the practice in the Duchy of Cornwall. It does not appear that the French engaged in any mining opera- tions in Xova Scotia, except in coal mining along the outcrops of the seams in ( 'ape Breton, and a reported washing of the sands of the Avon River for gold. Owing to the natural exposures of the seams, the Cape Breton coal fii-st attracted attention. From the Treaty of Paris in 176;{ to 1784, several desultory leases were granted to mine coal, but were not sanc- tioned b}^ the Lords of Trade. From this dn until the annexation of Cape Breton to Nova Scotia in 1820, with the exception of a few short leases, the mines were worked on government account, and this state of afiairs continued until the advent of the General Mining Association. It is stated that coal was tirst detected on the branch of the Middle River in Pictou county in the year 1795. Thi.s would probably be one of the outcrops of the Albion seams on McCullock's Hrook. In 1801, coal was mined in small quantities from the McGregor seam. In the year 1807, John McKay mined coal from a three feet seam on his lather's farm near New Glasgow ; the sales in the year 1815 amounting to (J.')U chaldrons. In this jear a lease was granted him by Sir John Sborbrooke. Becoming indebted to Messrs. Hartshorn and Boggs, of Halifax, in the sum of three thousand pounds, they were obliged to take possession of his mine in 1817. and to seek an extension of his lease. About this time coal was found at several points in this coal field, and applications made for leases. Mr. E. Mortimer, of Pictou, finally secured a lease for twenty-one years to work the main seam on each side ■■^; 168 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA of tlio East River, on the following terms, as given in a report to the Earl of Bathurst, Juno 12th, 1819: Royalty, Ss. per chaldron on all coal raised over 1,700 chaldrons on the west side of the river, in addition to an annual rent of £230 ; and a royalty of 3s. per chaldron on all coal raised over 700 chaldrons on the east side of the river, in addition to an annual rent of £110. The difl'erence between the two rents being allowed on account of alleged inferiority of the coal on the eastern bank. On the death of Mortimer, shortly after, the leases were continued on the same terms to Messrs. Geo. Smith and Wm. Liddell, November 3rd, 1819. The eastern mine was on lands granted to James Turnbull, and the western on lands allotted to Wra. Grant. The mines were worked up to 1828 on this lease, and yielded about 23,325 chaldrons, from small openings along the crop of the main seam. Some of these early workings were recently entered, but presented no features of interest. After the close of the American war there were many applications for mining concessions in the colonies, from persons who had been engaged on this side of the Atlantic in the service of the Crown, as well as from merchants and othei-s who had made money in profitable shipping and other adventures during the continental wars. These applications for mineral grants were considered by the Treas- ury as recorded in a minute of March 26th, 1825. Among them was one by Mr. Adams on behalf of His Royal Highness Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, asking for the reconsideration and completion of the intention expressed by His Majesty's Government in the year 1788 to i*ecommend to His late Majesty to make a grant to the Duke of York of mines in Nova Scotia. Upon inquiry being made it was found that not only had such recommendation been mada, but that the draft form of lease had been submitted for the approval of the Attorney-General in the year 1792, and had been substantially agreed upon. The grant was accordinglj' concurred in, and formally issued, as proposed thirty-seven years before. An intimation of this proposed grant may have been connected with the brief and unstitisfactory leases secured by the early coal miners in Nova Scotia, and with the extended working of Cape Breton mines by the government, as already alluded to. By this lease the Duke secured all the mines and minerals not at its date included in any granted Crown lands, or under working lease from the representative of the Crown in Nova Scotia for the term of sixty years. This lease was executed August 26th, 1826, in pursuance cf His Majesty's command, given July Uth, 1826, through the Earl of Liverpool. ' Under the terms of this lease the Duke was required to pay a rent of one shilling sterling per ton, of two thousand six hulidred and twenty pounds of coal sold. He was also to pay four pence for everj- ton of iron ore, and one-twentieth part of the value of the gold, silver, copper, lead, ^f-OCf ^ ■• 1 1 « \ I' i ' [aiLFIM] COAL MINING IN PICTOU COUNTY 169 i ♦ ,' / 1 • oj and all other ores and ro jtaiis. At that time it was believed that the most valuable product of the gra \t would be copper ore, but no deposits of this metal were found of economic value, and at that date the gold deposits were unknown. The grants of Crown lands made prior to 1759 contain no reserva- tions of minerals. This would have the effect of i-eseiTing the royal metals, gold and silver, it being held that they pass o \]y by special men- tion. From this date to 1809 the usual reservations expressed in the grants were gold and silver, copper, lead, (!oal, lapis lazuli, and in some cases, precious stones. There were, however, some large township grants in which gold, silver, and coals only are reserveH. In 1809 iron ore was added to the list of reserved minerals. After t'iO passing of the grant to the Duke of York in 1826 the Crown land grints necessarilj- reserved all the minerals, but in 1858, when the greater part of the General Mining Association's monopoly was surrendered, an Act of the Provincial Legis- lature declared that the grantees of land since 182fi received all the minerals previously reserved excepting coal, silver, lead, tin, copper, coal, iron and precious stones. Those grantees receiving land prior to 1826, retained of course all the minerals already granted, and all others relin- quished by the government in 1858, and their possession of subsequently resented minerals was confirmed. In the words of the Act " all other minerals, mines, ores and earths, including ironstones, limestones, slate stones, gypsum and clay'' are now granted with the lands. At the present date a good deal of confusion exists as to the actual minerals held with the land in many of the large township grants. These grants were made usually in a block to a number of settlei-s, many of whom did not take up their lots. When these lots were settled on at a later date, the occupants in some cases had no title, in other cases new grants were issued with reservations differing from those in the original grant. One of the schemes of the General Mining Association was the smelt- ing of iron ore, but they found that the principal known deposits were included in the grants issued prior to 1809, in which iron ore was not reserved, and the idea was abandoned after the erection of a small test furnace. The Duke of York, however, did not propose to work the mines, and lost no time in arranging for a lease of his rights to the General Mining Association of London, a company formed lo acquire and work mining properties in all parts of the world. They believed that valuable deposits of copper ore existed in Nova Scotia, but an examination showed that the coal deposits gave greater promise. The company fouT^d, on taking possession, that the Sydney mines and the best known e: osures of the Pictou seams were already being worked under lease, and consequently were not transferable to them by y 'L tit " tutgr-"' "~-.',"T:!::c jiMffln!:;!^ ^^■^^'«aK3s **»«»».•- ■lilMlitim 170 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA the Duke of York. However, the lease of the Sydney tract waH on the point of expiration, and was secured by them January 1st, 1827. In the followipg year they purchased the Pictou leases already referred to, and became the sole lesseps of all the mines and minerals in the province except these previously granted with the Crown lands. Some yeai*8 later it was pointed out that it was originally intended by the Crown to grant only the minerals in Nova Scotia proper, and that in the wording of the patent in 1826, Cape Breton having been annexed to Nova Scotia in 1820, the intention of the extended grant was not expressed. Following the custom of interpreting the grants in favour of the Crown, it was decided that the contention was well founded, and that the company held only the Sydney mines under the grant from the (lov- ernment of Nova Scotia, which in its turn became liable to a consideration of being ill-advised. However, this point was rectified by express declaration. The company did not take advantage of the neglect of many of the Crown land grantees to settle their lots, or to pay their rent, as their attention was practically confined to coal. When the new company obtainetl control of all the coal, the Govern- ment of Nova Scotia having issued a new lease of the Sydney mines and of the leases purchased in Pictou county, concurrent with that obtained from the Duke of Yoi-k, it was agreed between the three parties inter- ested that upon the payment of a fixed rent of three thousand pounds a year, they should be allowed to sell 20,000 chaldrons (Newcastle), and that a royalty of Is. Yd. sterling should be paid on every chaldron sold over that amount. In addition to this the company had an agreement with the Duke of York by which they were to pay him one-fourth of the net profits. On June 4tli, 1827, Mr. Richard Smith informed the Lieutenant- Governor that he had arrived with a number of miners, mechanics, etc., and a large amount of tools and machines preparatory to opening the Pictou coal seams on an extensive scale, and suggested that the initiation of the enterprise should be publicly marked. On June 11th, an order- in-council was issusd certifying that Mr. Smith was the agent of the General Mining Association, and calling upon all govei^ment officers, magistrates, and proprietors of land to alford every reasonable facility for the execution of the designs of the company. The proclamation did not have much effect upon the proprietors of land, as Mr. Smith complained of the exorbitant prices demanded, and of the determined hostility shown by many parties, especially by those connected with the former leases. Finally these land troubles were settled by an expenditure of £10,110 which secured for them ample space. A jutiicioils site was chosen on the west side of the East River on the outcrop of the main seam, about half a mile from the head of tide water, ». ' [gilpin] COAL MINING IN PICTOU COUNTY 171 and the first pit reached tho i-oal in Fehruary, lK2H. The plans show that ciifltt pits wore sunic in \vorlted fur six months. In 1831! •! more serious explosion occurred by which forty horses were killed. The loss by this fire was estimakire. limiuary appears to have been a brickyard which was continued for a number of year . The foundry appears to have received much attention, and it bad a chahi factory added to it. but the cost of labour lei), 2 Pick carriers, 48 Lahourers, 4 NVharl'men. 2 Kai'mei-s, 32 Ih'ick makers, 28 Ko\indrvmen, 5 Sailoi"H. 10 Slup carpenters, 51) Shipping labourers. 335 For an economic output the jtroportion of colliers siiould have been one-luilf of the total number emi)loyed, instead of one-tifth. In 1838 the number of einidoyes had increased to 61!). the propor- tion of colliers being slij^hll}' larger, but the productioa was only 28,566 chaldrons, the cost per chaldron of screened coal being 12s. 2d. currency. When tiie tirst attempt was made to work coal systematically in 1818. a rough tramway was built from the mines to a point on the East Hiver. a few hundred j'ards ilistant, which could be reached by barges at high tide. In 1827 when the a.ssociation began to mine on a large scale, attention was diivcted to the necessity of improved shipping facili- ties, and u wharf was built a short distance abo\e New fJlasgow which could be reached by boats at low watei". A railway was built and horses used to draw the coals from the pits. Barges received the coal, and they were towed by a steamer to the harbour wheic their loads wei'c trans- ferred to the vessels. About the year 1834 a further improvement was made by continuing the railroad to a point about one-half a mile below New Glasgow where a set of loading shoots were built, traces of which still remain. At this jioint vessels drawing seven feet of water could be loaded at auy tide and pass the various bars in the river. Vessels of a larger draught were partly loaded at the wharfs, and received the renuiinder of their cargoes from lighters in the Juirbour. The necessity of deepening the channel of the river next engaged attention, and a bill for this purpose was introduced in the Provincial Legislature in 1836. This bill passed, but the dislike and jealousy with which the General Mining Association were viewed, led to the incorporation of a clause calling in question the wisdom of the grant to the Duke of York, and the Act was disallowed by the Imperial Government. A similar bill introduced the following year was thrown out, as the New Glasgow people objected to the power sought to allow the comimny to levy toll on vessels using the improved navigation. The system of transportation and loading ai'e described as inditterent, but capable of improvement. However, it v/as decided that a new road should be built to the harl)our it.self. 1 • I > I f taiM'iN] ■ COAL MINING IN PICTOU COUNTY 173 It may be quostioiit'd if a moderatt' oxponditurc for dred^iii^ tho rivor, even if not accompunitMl by the privilogo of levying toils, coupkil with an improved .system of transport and loading, would not have secured sutticient shipping facilitit-s to have purmittod the postponement of the construction of a costly railroad and wharf for a number of ycai's. It would almost appear that a spirit of vindictiveness against Now Glasgow actuated tho company in altandoning the old railway and wharfs valued at £15,37fi! and constructing a new road and shipping place at a cost of £7G,10!t, when the expenditure of a few thousand pounds would have deejiened the channel sufficiently to permit the greater num- ber of the vessels then engaged in coal trans[»ort to load ilirectly from the coal shoots near New Glasgow. The new railroad was about six miles in length to an excellent ship- ping point on tho west side of tho I'^ast River, a little above its mouth. The location and supervision of the construction of the road was entrusted to a l()jal surveyor who b\iilt it on the principles most approved of in England. As nearly five miles of the road was level and the remainder a very easy gratle, it will readily be seen that its cost was heavy. The engineer's estimate was £;{5,57-i ; the actual cost, £70,100. At that date roads wei-e being constructed over more ditHcult ground in the United States at from £4, before the closing of the road, and were interesting s[tecimens of the earliest stages of railroad transportation. Before 1827 the coal was sold at 13s. (id. per chaldron, but there is evidence to show that whenever practicable a higher price was demanded. Up to 1836 the price averaged per Newcastle chaltlron about 14s. 6d. at the mine, the cost of the coal being about 12s. A complaint that the coal was being sold locally at higher tignres than before elicited a state- ment that no protit was made on the coal owing to the costly nature of the establishment. This can readily be credited when out of 018 men there were only 140 minei's. and no less than 40 men employed at the foundry, and as many more in the brickyard. As the proportion of coal miners to other labourers was so small, it is not surprising that the returns showed a meagre margin over the cost of the coal, and left next to nothing to meet the fixed charges. From a report of a committee of the Ilfsuse of Assembly in 1839, it appears that the coal was being sold in Pictou at 18s. 3is., and that the total average i>rice was 17s. This inquiry arose out of a formal com- plaint by the people of Pictou that they were being subjected to a mon- 174 KOYAL^OCIETY OK CANADA opoly. In 1H40 tlio piico wuh Htiitod to bo IHh. for round coiil. tlu> slack boing of no viiliio. When it Im stated that u|> to 1H12 there liad been about .C18(),<>00 invested in the I'ietou niineH. it is evident tluit tlio lai»ourM of twenty-tivo years luid been anytliing but remunerative. In tiiis year the association ro presented to Tiord Viscount Falkland, governor of tiie province, that the association had raised from all the mines 39,:{3;{ Newcastli' chaldrons, and that being dependent on tlie United States for their niarkt't. they were threatened with serious loss, as the American (iovernment had increased the duty from 81.00 to $2.20 per chaldron, and the completion of the Iteuding and tiio Baltimore & Cumberland Railways had nuiteri- ally lessened the cost of competing coal at the seaboard. The combined duty and cheapened transport had led to a large consumption of unlhru- cite coal, and practically stopped tlio imports of Nova Scotia coal. Jn consequence of this represi'Utatiim the compan}' was allowed to rai.se in 1843, 4(».000 chaldrons for the payment of the tixed rent of C3,000 sterling, instead of 20,000. However, even with lowered prices for coal, the shipments fell otf 5,783 chaldrons in this year. This decline in out|>ut led the governor to re|)ort adversely against a proposal from the hone government to extend the privilege of rui.sing a larger amount for the fixed rental. Shortly after tliis a charter was granted the company b\' the Pro- vincial JiCgislaturt', and a long law suit with the assignees of the Duke of York sottleil. The complaints made b}' the association of the heavy burden imposed on them by the rents and royalties were met by statements that the operations of the company ii\ Pictou had been marked by needless extrav- agance. A special report on the mines in 1841 was made to the Provmcial Government by (Jeorge Wightuum. He reported, that not including losses from underground tires esti united at £(J.8t)l, large K)sses had been occasioned by the following causes : Unduly large purchases of real estate, fluctuation in the management, unnecessarily expensive work, wast'j of stores and materials, and imperfect system of works. His summary of the actual over expenditures made on works com- pared with what would have been their fair cost amounted to £43,470. He estimated that an efficient railway could have been built for £30,000 less than the actual cost. The cost incurred in securing a level road being so high that the fixed charge thereby impo.sed per ton of coal carried over it was in excess of the transport expenses incidental to a roatl hav- ing a variety of grades. He quotes the experience of Carr, who worked prior to 1827, on a small scale, and mined coal at a cost of 10s. per chaldron, and retailed it at ISs., while the company working on a large scale with eveiy appliance mong them. Jle concluded by reporting that if the maiuigement would inaugurate a system of strict economy, put out more of the work to contract, and abolish the exclusive tactics of the miners, much better returns would be received. The association, threatened with the loss of their most important market, did retrench as far as possible, having completed their rail- way, and their new colliery enjoyed for .some time a somewhat improved condition. The second colliery was commenced in 1837 to the north ^^' the Hrst, ' or Store pits, a barrier of one hundred feet of solid coal being left. The shallowest pit next the barrier, used for ventilation, was 240 feet deep. From this jioint there were seven other shafts sunk over a space of 253 yards, the deepest being 4.'>5 feot on the Seam. The cost of sinking and equipping this colliery was £IH,178. It was worked on a system similar to that adopted in the Store pits, and enjoyed an immunity from serious accidents for many yeai-s. This colliery was equipped in accordance „ with the best mining practice of the daj', and [)roved very elilv^ient. The pumps were of the Cornish pattern, the boilers in part of the ''wagon " or '• balloon " type. In 1855 much damage was caused by the crushing of part of the workings owing to the weakness of the pillai*s left to support the roof At this date the practice of sinking a new pit whenever the coal within easy reach of a shaft became exhausted, was changed, and slants were sunk from the pit bottom running obliquely across the dip of the coal seam. Kngines were used to bi'ing the coals up these inclines, when they were raised to the surface through the vertical shaft. In 1861 the coal in the slant running to the eastward took fire from a blast igniting the coal, and it had to be filled with water. In the year 1807 the other or western slant took fire, and the mine was finally abandoned. The westward extension of the Store and live i>it collieries was limited by a banil of inferior coal marked superficially by the course of Coal Brook. As the coal was proved to improve again in quality l)eyond this space, fresh workings were decided on, and in 184!> the Dalhousie pits were sunk. There were five pits, the main shaft being 234 feet deep. Shortly after a shaft was sunk thiwigh the outcrop of the main seam, a few yards from the Dalhousie colliery to the next underlying coal bed known as the Cage jnt or Deep seam. !"5i mii^ 176 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA f fi Workings were carried on in the Dalhousie ])it for ii number of years in tiie coal lying between the level of the shaft and its outcrop, and through a slant running to the dip in a northwesterly direction. In this colliery much of the coal was worked to a height of about twenty -seven feet, leaving tall and weak pillars ; this brought on a general crush which overwlielmod a great part of the workings. The tinal blow to this col- liorv, however, was delivei-ed from another and newer shaft. For some uii cplained reason it was decided in 18(i(j to start a colliery to the west- ward of the cruslied workings of the Dalhousie pit. A com[)aratively superficial examination would have shown that in the district to be com- manded by the new pit the coal was inferior in quality, and that what- ever tliere was of good coal to the di]) of the shaft would have been ultimately secui-ed by the new shaft then being sunk to the dip of the Bye pit workings. However, the shaft known as the Fcjster pit was sunk, and ill-advisedl}' connected with the western faces of the Dalhousie l)it. Some large 8top[»ing8 built to shut off some of these connections took fire, and in May, 1870, both the [uts wore practically closed. '1 he expenditure on the Foster pit was totally lost, without any return what- ever, as only a few tons of coal had been extracted. The closing chapter of these notes on coal raining in Pictou County refei-s to the Foord pit. This shaft was projected at the same time as the Foster pit, and intended to win the large area of coal lying in the northern half of the area to the dip of the abandoned Store, Bye and J)alhousie collieries. It was successfully completed, resiching the main .seam at a depth of about !tOO feet, and equipped with the best pumps, boosting machii'ory. etc., procurable in England. It was coutinuousl}' worked until 1880, when a terrific explosion of gas caused the loss of nearly fifty lives, and it was found necessary to let in the water of the East Eiver, on account of the coal being set on fire by the explosion. After some years the water was pumped out, and an attempt made t-.. reo]ien it. As an undue amount of air was admitted into the old workings during the operation of reopening, spontaneous fires arose which led to the reclosing of the pit in the fall of 1892. The ex])lo8ion in ISSO was communicated to the Cage pit. or deeji seam workings, a through tunnel, and that colliery has also since remained "losed. The details of the history of the Foord pit and of the attempts n ade to reopen it are given in a re])ort by the writer to the Government of Nova Scotia made in 1895, and need not be dwelt upon here. The reopening of the solid or unwoi-ked coal lying to the north of the Foord pit. as well as of the pillars and lower half of the seam in the old workings are discussed in the re])or; referred to. At present the mining operations in thePictou Main Seam, begun in 1817 and continued up to 1892, are practically closed. The lessees when they found all their mines closed bj' explosions and fires in 1880, opened two underljing seams w liich have since been worked I mai' [GILPIN ] COAL MINING IN PICTOU COUNTY 177 steadily-. These operalionss, however, need not be referred to lurtlier, as they are of so ivcent a date. The early records of the coal trade were not accuratt'ly kept by the Provincial Crown Land Department, but as far as the writer is able to learn, there were extracted between the years 18^7 and 1S8(), in round numbers 6.000.000 tons of coal from the Main and Deep seams. A reference may appropriately be made to the quality of the coal in this great seam which for so many years proved a source of wealth to Pictou county, and to what measure of success attended the etl'orts of tlie lessees to extract coal from it. The main sean may be divided in general terms into an upper and a lower bed. Each of these beds is about twelve feet in thickness, of work- able coal. The upjier tlivisions in the Store, Bye and Foord pits was better in quality than the lower ; accordingly in these pits we Hnd that the upper layer of the top portion won out, and the lower bed proved good enough to be worked conjointly onl}' in the Dalhousie pit. Workings were carried on in the coal to a height of some twenty-four feet, and an inadequate scale of pillarage led to a crush causing the loss of the pit and of an immense amount of coal. A description of the systems of working adopted at these collieries need not be given here, but it may be described as forming an immense extent, some four hundred acres, of excavations leaving blocks of coal to support the roof. As each colliery was connected with that preceding, it became finally a vast burrow, and the fires which occurred from time to time became incapable of isolation or extinction, and remain so to-day at numerous points. Eeference has already been made to the fact that in the Store pits the coal was found to deteriorate in the upjier part of the seam to the eastward and westward. A similar state of affairs was found to exist in the Bye pit workings. The change for the better in the quality of the coal in the Dalhousie pit, already referred to as sunk beyond this zone of inferior coal super- ficially indicated by the course of Coal Brook, was only comparative. The " fall " or to[) layer of coal disappeared and the lower part of the upper portion of the seam was higher in ash than the coal met at the western face of the Bye jiit workings This is shown by the following set of analyses from "Acadian Geology" of the three divisions of the upper part of the seam as worked in the Bye and Dalhousie pits. The first sample is from a i»oint about TOO yards east cf the Bye pit, the second from a point about 700 yards wesi; of the Bye pit. and the third from a point about one-half a mile west of the Dalhousie pit : 178 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA Fall Coal 3' 2" t Moisture Volatile combustible. ! fixed carbon Ash No. 1, Top Bench :r 0" ? Moisture "Volatile combustible. 1-750 25 -875 BlOoO 10 425 1 500 24'80O Fixed carbon 51 • 42H Bottom Bench 5' 0" ? Ash Moisture Volatile combustible Fixed carbon Ash 22 272 2 250 22 375 52-475 22-000 No. 2. 1 550 27-088 00-837 0-025 1 500 28 013 01-087 8-8(K) 1-800 27-075 59 050 11 175 No. 3, Thinned out. 2 3 22-7 02-0 13 1 2 5 22 7 .58-8 10 The composition of the tiiitouchcd hjwer pjirt of the seam in the Bye pit is apparent!}' as follows ; Volatile combustible matter ^o-S to 30*4 Fixed carbon 54-8toC7rl Ash from 8'7 to 23-3 as condensed from a number of analyses. The following analysis by the writer, from a jtapcr on the com- position of Ciinadian Coals, of the upper portion of the ^fain seam, as worked at the Forest pit, shows its improvement in quality toward the dip : ^[oisture 1-05 Volatile combustible matter ^fi-li) Fixed carbon ()3-41 Ash 9-35 The same rule appears to hold y-ood in the case oi' the lower portion of the seam ; as in the Kooril ])it district the asii in the lower part is stated by the present agent of the lessees, to be eleven ])cr cent against an average of about sixteen per cent nearer the outcrop. The coal of the Deep seam was very similar to the upper ])ortion of the Main seam but had a slightly greater percentage of ash. As to the coal contents of the ^lain se.im forming the scene of the operations more spei-ially noted, the writer has been unal)le to procure exact figures of the tonnage of coal extracted, as the returns at the dis- . : ^-^t 'i" ' mm g^ aufcw J[ ,.,;i!f; \ff^ ■f'ii l*f^S': [GILPIN] COAL MINING IN PICTOU COUNTY 179 posal of the government are not complete. The lower division of the seiim was not worked at all in the Store, Bye, and Fooi'd pits, and only partly worked in tho Dalhousie pit. It would probably be found to be ail over estimate, assuming that the upi)er portion of the seam was only worked in the Dalhousie pit, to say that one-half of tht- upper portion of the seam was workoil. Assuming the acreage of the pits at 450 acres, and the two divisions of the seams to be each twelve feet thick, on the figures given in Acadian Geology, there would be in the seam within their limits 16.200.000 tons of coal, or allowing for barriers and unworked blocks of coal in all 18,000,000 tons. Taking one-half for the lower division of the .seam, and adding one- half of the upper or worked portion there would be still in these work- ings 13,5tl0,0tt0 tons of coal. In any estinuite of the future of this seam of coal account would have to be taken of the enormoi but sis yet undeveloped fiebl lying to the north of the Foord ]iit workings. In this brief review of the history of coal mining in the Pictou main seam we liavc noticed successive tires, explosions, crushes, inundations, and all the woes of the coal miner until it has become abandoued. The successfi.; i-ecovery of this vast body of coa' and its application to the . industrial pursuits of the country is a legacy left by the accumulating , disasters of half a century for the ingenuit}' of mining engineers. Aban- doned pits, lui'king tires, crushed pillars, impounded bodies of water, im])erf'ect plans, and outbreaks of spontaneous comhustion. all unite to appall the miner, and invite condemnation of mans waste of the gifts of nature.