IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) // 4i^ 1.0 I.I 11.25 I us, mil 2.0 1.8 U III 1.6 Vi W /: *^W' ^ 'V V /^ ^^ .% <^;^i^ ^v^^ # CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute tor Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical Notes / Notes techniques The institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Physical features of this copy which may alter any of the images in the reproduction are checked below. L'histitut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Certains ddfauts susceptibles de nuire d la quality de la reproduction sont not^s ci-dessous. D Coloured covers/ Couvertures de couleur Coloured maps./ Cartes gdographiques en couleur D D Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Coloured plates/ Planches en couleur Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d^colordes, tachetdes ou piqudas D Show through/ Transparence n Tight binding (may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin)/ Reliure serr^ (peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure) D Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes D Additional comments/ Commentaires suprl^mentaires Bibliographic Notes / Notes bibliographiques D D Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents D D Pagination incorrect/ Erreurs de pagination Pages missing/ Des pages manquent n Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque n Maps missing/ Des ca' tes g6ographiques manquent D Plates missing/ Des planches manquent D Additional comments/ Commentaires suppldmentaires The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —►(meaning CONTINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. The original copy w^s borrowed from, and fil.ned with, the kind consent of the following institution: Library, Geological Survey of Canada Maps or plates 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 images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet6 de I'exemplaire filmd, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la der- nidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — £»► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grdce d la g6n6rosit6 de I'dtablissemsnt prdteur suivant : Bibliothdque, Commission Gfologique du Canada Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour Stre reproduites en un seul clichd sont filmdes d partir de I'angle supdrieure gauche, de gaurhe d droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la m^thode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 s^tsmftmm \ ■4- K.WeUar.Wi /^ . ""' t. V '■■'^■: THE COAL FIELDS and COAL TRADE £.>-- OF THE ISLAND op ?^... CAPE BRETON By RICHARD BROWN, F.G.S. &c. * AUTHOR OP ' A BISTORT 01* THE ISLASO 07 CAFE BRFION ' ? f / WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS I : r : Weller.lrtli LONDON ^ *- SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, LOW, & SEARLE. CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET 8TREET 1871 -V LOT^nOX : I'niXTRD BT 8P0TTISW00DB ANI> CO., NP.W-STKEET SQCAK« ASD I'ARUAMKNT 8TUEET PREFACE TiTK EXISTJ'^NCE of valuable deposits of Coal in the Island of Cape Breton has been long known, but I am not aware that any account of tlieni has hitherto been ])iiblished, except in certain scientific works, which are read only by persons interested in the subjects they treat of. The want of a reliable description of the Coal Fields, the capabilities of the mines now in operation, and a history of the rise and progress of the Coal Trade, in a popular form, must often have been experienced by those who have invested their money in the Cape Breton mines, especially by the shareholders of the General Mining Association, few of whom can possibly possess more than an imperfect know- ledge of the great extent and value of their mining property. Having had the advantage of consulting the works above referred to, and having also been employed many years in the management of the largest collieries in the Island, I hope the information derived from those sources and my own personal knowledge, submitted in the following pages, will be received with confidence by all who are interested in the Cape Breton mines. I trust also that shipowners and commercial men generally will be glad to learn from these pages that Cape Breton, which, from its geographical position has ■VHIVM IV PREFACE, P been nptly styled 'The Tiong Wharf of Ainerioa,' po;?scsscs abujidaiit sii|)plies of excellent steam fuel, conmiodioiis harbours, and, in fact, every necessary quali^cation for becoming the great et)alhig station of the innumerable steamers which are rapidly superseding sailing vessels in the naviization of the Atlantic. Being the last practical point of departure for steamers from America to Europe, Cape Breton is, in every respect, the most suitable place for the eastern terminus of the projected line of railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, through British territory, an undertaking which is now deservedly receiving much attention in the Canadian Dominion. It is a remarkable fact, as has been pointed out in a recent able work.^ that Cape Breton and Van- couver's Islands — the proposed termini of the line — are the only places on the seaboard which can furnish cheap and excellent coal to the steamers that will be employed on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in maintaining the communication, in connexion with the railway, between Europe and China. It now only remains for me to say that, in compiling the account of the Coal Fields, I have availed myself of Dr. Dawson's admirable work on ' Acadian Geology,' and a valuable article in the ' Transactions of the North of England Institute of Mining Engineers,' by John Euther- ford, Esq., the Government Inspector of Mines in Nova Scotia. My acknowledgments are also specially due to J. B. Foord, Esq., the Secretary of the General Mining Association, for the use of several important documents in his office ; to Henry S. Poole, Esq., of the Caledonia The Canadian Dominion, by Cliarles Marshall : London, 1871. rUEFACK. V Colliery, Glace I^:.iy, for ample aceouiib uf the new mines ill the eastern portion of the Sydney Coal Field; and to liichard II. Brown, Esq., the manager of the Sydney and Lingan mines, for mucli statistical information, and the views of the northern shores of Sydney and I^iugan Harbours. Conscious of many defects, I nevertheless hope tliis little work will prove acceptable to the shareholders of the General Mining Association, and of the other com- panies, both English and foreign, engaged in coal mining in Cape Breton, and will convince them that they possess, in their present establishments, ample means for carrying on a large and prosperous business when the restrictions now imposed upon their trade with tlio United States have been removed — a consummation, there is every reason to believe, not far distant. R. B. London : Oc/uhcr, 1871. CONTENTS. CHAPTER 1. CJeoloii-ical Structure of the Island — The Carboniferous System — The Con- glomerate — its Extent — Composition — and Fossils — The Carboniferous Limestone — its associated Beds of Marl and Gypsum — Chief Localities mid livtent — Animal I^emoins — Marble— ]3rine and Petroleum Springs — The Millstone C»rit — Its Composition — Extent and Localities — Fossil I 'hints — forms the Limit of the Coal-Measures — Building Stone ard (irindstones — The Coal-Measures — Associated Beds of Shale, Sandstone, &c. — Fossil I'lants — Erect Trees — Ripple Marks — Worm Tracks — Rain Marks — Footprints of a liand Animal — Animal Remains in Bituminous Limestone — Only Three distinct Coal Fields .... Page 1 CHAPTER II. ■ Tiie Sydney Coal Field — its Area and Boundaries — Physical Aspect — Former Extent — Gradual Recession of the Sea Cliffs — Landslips on the Coast — Total Thickness of the Coal-Measures — Range and Extent of the workable Seams — Identity of Seams on the Shores of Sydney Harbour with those on the Little Entrance of the Bras d'Or — The Boulardrie District — Area and Boundaries — Faults and Disturbances — Tabular Sections of Coal- Measures — The Cape Dauphin District — Area and Limits — Vertical Position of the Seams — Diagram 11 CHAPTER III. The Sydney Coal Field, continued — The Glace Bay District — its Boundaries — Diagram and Section of Coal-Measures — Range and Extent of principal Seams — Coal on Flint Island — The Cow Bay Basin — Anticlinal — Diagram and Section of Coal-Measures — The Tracey Seam — Section of Measures at the South Head — Identity of Phelan and McAulay Seams — Supposed Continuation of Long Beach and Tracey Seams — The Lingan and Low Point Districts— Boundaries and Extt-nt — separated by a Fault from the Glace Bay Basin — Range and Extent of the Seams from Indian Bay to • I • Vlll I'ONTKN'T^. M the Ijglitlioiifio — f'roiM tho liitrlitlKHist; to McPlice'H Forry — Secti(tn of till! Liii^rmi Soritvi Snitioii of l\u- Low Point .SltIos— ihcir Identity — ]"](iuiviilt'iit(4 ot tiie Cow J5ay ScaiuH on the Low Point Slioir — Oonnection of tho Low Point and Syrhioy Mines Scnnis .... P.voii '2H ( HAPTEU IV. The Inverness Coal Field — General Stratification — Coal-Measures of Port Hood — Maboii — Broad Cove — and Chimney Corner — Sectioua at each Locality — Want of Safe Places of Shipment — Deatriiction of Coal-Seanis* by tho Surf — Xeceasity of niakinfr Accurate Surveys— The Itichn'ond Coal Field — its Extent — Vertical Position of the JMeaaures at Sea Coal Bay and Little Kiver — Convenient Situations for .Siiipnient — (Jreat Cost of working highly inclined Seams Ii7 M CHAPTER V. Early History of the Coal Trade — Silence of Champlain and others on Existence of Coal in Cape Breton — First Mention of Coal in Nicholas Denys' History of North America — Cape Breton granted to Denys by King of Franco — Value of Coal pointed out by MM. Baudot — Admiral Walker's Bemarks — First Attempt of the French to raise Coal at Cow ]iay — Coal shipped io Britisli Provinces — Mine opened by the English at Burnt Head in 174G — Blockhouse built for its Protection against the Indians — Raid of Canadians upon Settlement at Indian Bay — Trade between French and English Colonists in 1754 — Pich on 's Notices of Coal- Mines in 1752 — Brigadier-General Howe and others apply for Lease of Coal-Mines in 1704 — Colonel Francklyu reports on Works at Cow Bay to Lords of Trade — his Kecommendation to lease Minos refused — Lord William Campbell leases Mines to GorrisL and others for One Year — they open a Mine at Spanish River — Large Quantities of Coal stolen from Cliffs — Troops sent to Cow Bay to protect Mines — Troops employed in working Mines at Spanish River — Convoy of Vessels engaged in caiTying Coal to Halifax attacked by French Frigates — Impolicy of refusing Leases — its Eifects 44 CHAPTER VI. Early History of the Coal Trade, continued — Island of Cape Breton erected into a separate Government — Reservations of Minerals by Order in Council — Colliery established at Sydney — Worked by Government — Leased to Thos, Moxley in 1788 — to Tremain and Stout in 1792 — Engineer sent out from England to superintend Works — Coal stolen from Cliffs — Mea- sures adopted to prevent it — Mines worked again by Government in 1800 — Leased to William Campbell in 1801 — Worked by Government from 1803 CONTENTS. IX to ISl.'J — Snmll rrulits accruing— I ifivscd to IJitcliieftiid Lt-aver in 181{ to JJowii luitl fit'avt'r from iH'v to IH^O— Cajif Urcton aiini'Xfd to Oovern- moiit of Nova Scotia— Sir Janios Kempt n-povtHon MiiicH to lionl Ilathiirst — Coat of Workiu}? — Leastul to MoHsrH. IJowna for Fiv« Years — Kemarkfl on Triidi) from 17H0 to 182(J— Imperfect SvstcMu of Worliing — described in ,le(„il — Coal shipped in bad Condition — Clinracterof Workmen — Condition of l^uildings — Groat Waste of Coal in Working — Table of Coal-Sales, Trices, lloyalty, Sec, from 1785 to 1827 Page 60 CHAPTER VII. Mining Specnliition in England in 1825 — Organisation of the General Mining Association — Mines of Nova Scotia leased to the Duke of York — lease transferred to the General Mining Association — Explorations for Copper not successful — Decide upon working the Coal-Mines — Obtain licnsoof Reserved Mines — Modifications made in the Association's Lease — Coninienco Operations at Sydney — Professor How's Analysis of Sydney Coal — its Yaluo as a don)estic and steam CoJ — its high Character in the Provinces — used by Steamers of the Royal Navy — Pits sunk and Works erected by the Association previous to 1857 — Diagram showing situations of Pit« — Lloyd's Cove and Indian Cove Sea,m8 opened, but abandoned — CoUierj* opened at Bridgeport — Operations there — A good Gas Coal — Closed in 1842 — Colliery opened at Lingan, for supply of Goh Works — Description of Seam — Pit, Railway, &c.— Analysis of Lingan Coal by Profesr^or How — its Character as a Steam Coal — The Bras d'Or (^oUieiy — The Point Aconi Colliery 74 CHAPTER VIII. Progress of Coal Trade from 1827 to 1857 — Exports to United States — Restrictions on the Trade — Introduction of Anthracite into the Markets of New Y'ork and Boston — Consumption of Foreign Coal in those Cities — superseded by Anthracite — Cape Breton Coal consigned to the United States for Sale — Great Loss in consequence — Increased Consumption in British Provinces on reducing selling Price — Sales of Small Coal — Statis- Tables showing Annual Sales — Selling Prices — Royalty — Duty in 11 ted States — Quantity from each Colliery — and Countries to which it was shipped, from 1827 to 1857 91 CHAPTER IX. Surrender of Duke of Yor'-'s Lease — Operations of General Mining Associa- tion viewed with satisfnction in the Colony — Benefit derived from their Expenditure — Favaurable Report thereon by a Committee of the House of Assembly— -Legality of Association's Title to Mines disputed — Opinion of Counsel taken in England — Association's Title declared perfect — CONTENTS. Assemblj' negotiates with Association for a Transfer of their Claims to unopened Mines— deferred owing to Chancery Suit — lloopened in 1857 — Delegates sent to confer with Directors in London — Association surrender Claims to unopened Mines — Conditions — Concessions made on both Sides — Terms of New Lease — Boundaries of Areas leased to the Association — Agreement ratified by Legislature — Advantages accruing to all I'arties by Settlement of Question — Act of 1853 — Prejudicial to the Association — Competition in the Coal Trade — Surrender of other Minerals if no I^oss to the Association Page 100 CHAPTER X. Act of Legislciture concerning Mining Leases — its Stipulations — Subse- quent Act on same Subject — Numerous Applications for Licences of K\~ ploration — List of New Mining Companies — Situations and Extent of Leases granted, and Operations at the New Collieries : namely, The South Head, Cow Bay ; Tracey, Mira Bay ; Gowrie, Cow Bay ; Blockhouse, Cow Bay; Acadia, Schooner Pond; Clyde, (ilace Bay; Caledonia, Glace Bay: Little Glace Bay ; International, Bridgeport ; Victtma, Low Point; Ingrahnm, Bras d'Or Road ; Collins, Little Bras d'Or ; Matheson, Little Bras d'Or ; Black Rock, Great Bras d'Or ; New Campbelltown, Great Bras d'Or; Chimney Corner, Margarie; liroad Cove, Gulf Shore; Mabou, Gulf Shore ; Port Hood, St. George's Bay ; Richmond, Little River ; Sea Coal Bay ; Gut of Canceau — New Mines in Progress — Glasgow and Capo Breton Mining and Railway Company Ill CHAPTER XL Improvements at Sydney Mines since 1857 — New Colliery commenced at Cox Hill — Abandoned — New Pits commenced at Cranberry Head — Pumping and Winding Engines erected — Branch Railway constructed — Improvements at Lingan — Railway constructed — Harbour deepened — Leases obtained of Areas under the Sea — Schedule of General Mining Association's Property in Cape Breton — Acreage of Coal Area — (Quantity of Coal contained therein — Real Estate — Railways and Rolling Stock — Steam Engines — Buildings and General Equipment of Collieries — Present Capabilities of the Sydney and Lingan Mines — Possible Expansion when necessary 142 CHAPTER XI 1. f ' Progress of the Coal Trade from 1858 to 1870 — Statistical Tables of Sales — Remarks thereon — Future Prospects of the Trade — New Mines — ma}'^ be worked Profitably when Duty is abolished in United States — In- creased Consumption of Coal in British Provinces — Export of Coal from Ri CONTENTS. XI Great Britain to West Indies and Soutli America — Description of Sydney Harbour ; its advantageous Situation ; on direct Iloute from Europe to Canada and United States ; will become the Emporium of the Coal Trade — Louisbourg nearest Port to Europe — iVdvantaj^es to Steamers coaling at Sydney — Favourable Position for establishing Manufactories —Exhaustion of Coal in Great Britain — its Ertects upon Coal Trade of Cape Breton — Manufacture of Salt and Iron — Future Prospects of Cape Breton Page Ml TABLES. I. Sales of Coal at Sydney Mines, from 178-5 to 1820, inclusive . 7.0 II. Selling Prices, Rent and Royalty, and Duty in United St.ites, from 1827 to 1857 ' . . . .97 III. Quantity of Coal sold at Sydney, Bridgeport, Bras d'Or, Lingan, and Point Aconi Mines, from 1827 to 1857, inclusive . . 98 IV. Quantity of Cape Breton Coal sold in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, the neighbouring Colonies, and United States, from 1827 to 1857 99 V. Tons of Coal sold at all the Mines in Cape Breton, in each year, from .Tanuary 1, 1857, to December 31, 1870 .... 101 VI. Tons of Coal sold in the United States, West Indies, Canada, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward's Island, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton, in the year 1870 .... 10-3 xu LIST or MAPS, ILLUSTRATIONS, AND DIAGRAMS. II 111, t i*r i i. I ;i 1. Outline Map of British Provinces .... Frontispiece 2. Geological Map of Cape Breton ..... „ 3. Diagram of Carboniferous System Page 2 4. Diagram showing Waste of Coal Strata on the Sea Coast . . 12 5. Section of Carboniferous Rocks at Cape Dauphin .... 22 (>. Seotiou of the Glace Bay Coal-Measures 24 7. Section of the Cow Bay Basin 27 8. Section showing Position and Depths of all the Shafts sunk at the Sydney Mines 85 9. Map of the Sydney Coal Field 166 10. Vi«w of the North-West Shore of Sydney Harbour and Works of the General Mining Association 166 11. View of the North Shore of Lingan Bay and Works of the Gene- ral Mining Association ........ 166 THE COAL-FIELDS AND COAL TRADE OF CAPE BRETON. CHAPTER I. THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM OF CAVE BRETON. It will be seen, by a glance at the geological map facing tlie title-page, that the rocks of the carboniferous system cover about one half of the whole area of the island ; the other half being, so far as now known, occupied by igneous, metamorphic, and silurian rocks. The prevail- ing igneous rock is a red syenite which occurs in long narrow ridges of considerable elevation, running in a north-east and south-west direction. Granite, porphyry, and trap are sometimes met with, but only in patches of small extent. Stratified gneiss, mica slate, clay slate, and upper silurian rocks, often highly metamorphosed and disturbed, succeed the igneous rocks, and are in turn overlaid by the conglomerate which generally forms the l)asis of the carboniferous system. In some instances, however, the .conglomerate is wanting, and the carbo- niferous limestone rests upon silurian or metamorphic m 2 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM OF CAPE BRETON. rocks, and occasionally even upon those of igneous origin.^ The map, above referred to, is given merely for the pur- pose of showing the situation and extent of the coal- fields relatively to the older rocks. For an accurate account of the geological structure of the island, tlie reader is referred to Doctor Dawson's excellent and well- known work on Acadian Geology,''^ tlie object of tlie pre- sent work being confined to a description of the coal formation, and the history of the rise and progress of the coal trade cf the island. The carboniferous system ' of Cape Breton, coloured blue upon the geological map, comprises four distinct formations, eacli of great but variable thickness : namely, the conglomerate (1), the carboniferous limestone (2), the millstone grit (3), and the productive coal-measures (4). Their relative position is shown in the annexed diagram : — n M ■| 1 1 Conglomerate. 3 Millstone Grit. 2 Carboni forons Limestono. 4 Coal-measures. n Silurian or Motnmorphic, and sometimes Igneous, rorks. The Conglomerate, the basis of the carboniferous sys- tem — analogous in mineralogical character and position to the old red sandstone of Great Britain — is composed of waterworn pebbles and angular fragments, derived from the neighbouring hills, of metnmorphic and igneous ' A well-defined example occurs on the north side of the rntrance of the Oreat Bras d'Or, where the limestone lies upon syenite at the northern, and upon quartzitp. at the southern end of the district — localities only two miles apart. ^ Acadian Gcuhgy. By J. W. J)awson, LL.D., &c. Second edition. Macmillan & Co., London. 1868. THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM OF CAPE BRETON. 3 -I rocks, which appear to have accumuiated under cliffs bordering on tlie sliores of an ancient sea — a process still going on in the formation of shingle beaches by the wasting of adjacent hills and precipices. The pebblns consist of pieces of syenite, gneiss, mica slate, ouartzite ihnty slate, hard sandstone, and occasionally a dark-gray limestone, cemented together by a red ferruginous paste. ^ The conglomerate is very irregular in thickness, some- times forming hills five to eight hundred feet in height, at others, beds merely a few feet in thickness, and in some instances beinof altoiether wanting. At McMillan's Point, in the Gut of Canceau, a well-defined anticlinal axis occurs in the conglomerate, the strata on one side dipping northerly towards Port Hood, on the other southerly luider the Eichmond coal-field. In tlie Isle Madame it rests upon the upper silurian rocks of Arichat and under- lies the limestone and gypsum of Lennox's Passage. It is seen cropping out at various places on the north-west or Gulf shore between Mabou and Cheticamp, rising to a considerable height on the flanks of the syenitic hills. Between Margarie and Whykokomagh it constitutes a lofty range of hills, which form striking objects in the wild and picturesque gorge traversed by the road between those two settlements ; and at Baddeck, the Great Nar- rows, and many other places, the rugged hills of conglo- merate form the most conspicuous features in the beauti- ful scenery of the Bras d'Or Lakes. In connection with the Sydney coal-field it is found only in thin beds at ' A remarkable instance of quite a recent date may be seen on the shore of Sydney Harbour, near the old mines wharf, wliero rounded pebbles and small boulders of old rocks brouf the cliff at one locality averaged five inches j)er annum, it follows that more than 25,000 years have passed away since the coal country emerged from beneath the waters uf the Athtutic. THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. 13 a mass of strata half c. mile in length, 200 yards in width, and twonty yards in height, resting upoii a seam of <3oal, having a strike parallel with the coast-line, has slipped down bodily, owing to the softening of the undcr-clay, on one side by land-springs and rains, and on the other by the action of the surf. The debris of the fallen mass at the foot of the clifi', before this time, has probably been ground into mud and sand by the waves, but the course of the land-slip maj be distinctly traced from end to end by means of the long rugged gaps and holes left on the surface of the land. The total thickness of the Sydney coal-measures has not yet been correctly made out, but there is good reason to conclude that, from Burnt Head near Glace Bay, where the highest known bed occurs, down to tJie millstone grit, it is not much under 7,000 feet.^ On this important question the reader will be better prepared to form an opinion for himseli when he has perused the following account of the position and extent of the several seams in both divisions of the coal-field. As the line of separation of the coal-measures from the millstone grit has not yet Ijcen correctly ascertained between Mira Bay and Sydney Harbour, it will be better first to describe the western portion of the coal-field, where the coal-measures can be distinctly seen resting upon the millstone grit, without in- terruption, from Stubbert's Point to Cape Dauphin. This will give us a well-defined starting-point from the lowest * In a paper published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geoloi/ical Socicti/, vol. vi. p, 115, the writer stated that the thickness of the productive coal- measures probably exceeded 10,000 feet. lie has since found, upon revising his estimate, that, in placing the t.iicknos8 of the Boulardrie section at 5,400 feet, the millstone grit and carboniferous limestone, together 2,800 feet in thickness, were erroneously included in this amount. Deducting this grave error, the thickness of the productive coal-measures will not nmch exceed 0,000 feet. The explorations in progress in the Glace Bay district will soon, it is hoped, accurately determine their thickness. WW 14 THE SYDNEY COAT.-FIELD. !( ' i beds, and enable us subsequently to trace, more satisfac- torily, the connection of the seams in the eastern and western divisions of the coal-field. The Sydney Mines district^ ly^'^S between Sydney Harbour and the Little Entrance of the Bras d'Or Lakes, occupies an area of about ten square miles. Partial sec- tions of the coal-measures are visible at many places in the interior and on the borders of the district, but no- where in such perfection as in the cliffs on the north-west shore of Sydney Harbour, which exhibit a complete sec- tion, directly at right angles to the line of strike, tliree miles in length and 1,860 feet in depth, extending from Cranberry Head, at the entrance of the harbour, to Stubbert's Point, where the lowes<- ^ed of the coal- measures may be seen lying conforL ly upon the mill- stone grit.^ The following is a section of the coal-measures from Cranberry Head to Stubbert's Point, in descending order, showing, in separate columns, the thickness of each seam and of the intervening strata of sandstone, shale, imder- clay, &c. in the Sydney Mines district '^ : — Ft. In. Ft. In. Strata 21 7 Coal (Cranberry Head Upper Seam) . . . ... 3 8 Strata. 15 8 (Cranberry Head Clay Coal 2 8 Lower Seajn) 2 Strata 245 8 Coal . Soil Shale Coal . 2 8 3 } 8 10 5 ^ A view of the north-west shore of Sydney Harbour, taken from the opposite shore, showinj^ the positions of the principal seams of coal in the cliffs, and the situations of the pits, buildings and wharves of the Geneml Mining Association, will be found at the end of this volume. * Compiled from a detailed section taken by the writer, published in the Quarterly Jmirtwlofthe Gvologicnl Society, vol. vi p. ll«i. THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. 15 Brought forward , 2 0-, 2 r. 1 3 6> 7i 5 4^ 1 4> 4 5 2 5 4J Strata . Coal . Clay . Coal . Clay . Coal . Strata' Coal . Clay . Coal . Strata . Coal . Clay . Coal . Fireclay Coal . Strata . Coal . Strata . Coal . Strata . Coal (The Sydney Main Seam) Strata . Coal . Strata . Coal . Strata . Coal . . . .0 2^ Carboniferous Shale . 1 Coal . . . .03 Carboniferous Shale . 2 Coal . . . . 3J Strata . Coal . Strata . Coal . , . . 5| Carboniferous Shale . 2 Coal . . . . IJ Ft. In. 17 3 Ft. In. (Lloyd'.s Cove Scam) 3 GO 'Chapel Point Upper Seam) . (Chapel Point Lower Seam) . (Quarry Seam) 250 3 5 lOG ]1 2 9 21 6 1G2 8 178 9 43 1 12 1 130 11 3 7G 9 4G 2 11 2 1 3 4 G 9 4 8 4 G ' About 144 feet of these beds are concealed by the sand beach of Lloyd's Cove, but can be distinctly seen on the sea-shore between Cranberry Head and Black Point on their line of strike. , IG THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. Brought forward . Strata . Coal . Strata . Coal . Shale . Coal . Strata . Coal . Strata . Coal . Strata . Coal . Strata . Coal . Strata . Coal . . . .01 Shale . . .03 Coal . . . .02 Shale . . . .02 Coal . . . .02 Fireclay . . . 1 10 Coal . . ■ . .12 Carboniferous Shale . 2 Clay . . . .02 Coal . . . .13 Carboniferous Shale . 3 Coal . . . .0 2-* Strata . Coal . . . .02 Shale . . . .01 Coal . . . .01 Carboniferous Shale . fi Coal . . . .0 2. Strata . Coal ... Strata, with traces of Coal in three places Ft. In. 20 10 . . . . . 120 4 S-j 1 > (Indian Cove Seam) 1 4 oJ )> (Stony Seam) (Shelly Scam) 2 10 1 10 7 05 2 72 5 Ft. In. 1 3 4 8 CI 9 . , . • . 11 21 11 . . . 1 4 20 10 . . . 7 8 11 , , . * • 2 73 9 3 5 1 Coal . 1,823 . 30 9 3 30 3 Total Thickness . 1,800 • THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. 17 It will be seen by this table that, although there are not less than thirty-six beds and layers of coal in the section, only four are of sufRcient thickness to be econo- mically worked, namely, the Cranberry Head, the Lloyd's Cove, the Main, and the Indian Cove seams, whose aggre- gate thickness is twenty feet four inches. All the principal seams of this district, except that at Cranberry Head, which runs into the sea, can be traced across the country from Sydney Harbour to the Little Entrance of the Bras d'Or Lakes. The Lloyd's Cove seam certainly is not quite continuous, as it crops out on the coast a quarter of a mile to the westward of Cranberry Head, and runs into the sea, but owing to an undulation in the measures at right angles with the strike, the seam is deflected to the west, and rising out of the sea, again appears above high-water mark near Bonar's Head, from whence it has been traced running nearly due north to Plant's Point. It maintains a tolerably uniform section until it nearly reaches Plant's Point, when, owing to a rapid increase in the thickness of the clay parting, it is split into two distinct beds, separated by fifteen feet of shale. The two beds forming the lower seam at Chapel Point, sixteen and four inches thick, were both met with in sinking the Queen Pit three-fourths of a mile to the west- ward. They are visible in the cliff at Black Point, and also at Oxford Point. At the latter place the upper seam is four, and the lower two feet six inches in thickness, separated by eighteen feet of shale. They have not been traced any further to the northward.^ The * Six-Foot,' or main seam, maintains its full thick- ness as far as the Big Pond, gradually bending round to ^ The strike of the several scams at sea level is marked on the map in strong black linos wherever it has been accurately ascertained ; the supposed continuation of the strike is indicated by broken or dotted liiie3. 18 THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. rt.; (! ■■:■ 111, '■•ii I 4\ the northward as it approaches the undulation in tlie measures in that locaUty. It lias been traced, by means / of boring and sinking, from Cox Hill on tlie nortli side of I the Big Pond, as far as Eidd's Point on the Little Entrance i of the Bras d'Or, a distance of three miles, but between those two places its thickness nowhere exceeds four feet ; ' at Kidd's Point it is only three feet six inches. The quality of the coal, however, shows no signs of deterio- ration. The Indian Cove seam has been worked at a pit one mile to the westward of Indian Cove, and at a place about a mile further in the same direction. It has also been proved at a trial pit and boring near the Little Entrance. There is little variation in thickness at all these places. Its roof of bituminous shale, containing modiolce, cyprides^ fish scales, cj'c, clearly establishes its identity from Indian Cove to the Little Entrance. On the shore of the Little Entrance there is another bed of coal four feet ten inches in depth, lying 200 feet below the preceding, which is probably the equivalent of the stony seam of the Sydney Mines section. The inclination or dip of all the seams is about seven degrees, but its direction gradually comes round from north-east on the sliore of Sydney Harbour to nearly due east at the Little Entrance. The amount of dip has, however, been found to decrease rapidly towards the ■ north-east in the underground workings at the Sydney Mines, where, at the distance of one mile from the out- crop of the seam, it does not exceed five degrees. The Boulardrie District, boimded on the east and west by the Little and Great Entrances respectively, and on the south by the millstone grit, occupies an area of about eight square miles, containing several valuable seams of coal. Though separated only from the Sydney Mines THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. 19 district by the narrow channel of the Little Entrance, which is not more than 100 yards in width, the con- nection of the coal-seams on each side of this channel cannot, owing to serious disturbances caused by faults, be satisfactorily determined. On the nortli-west side of the island of Boulardrie, fortunately, there is less disturbance, and a continuous section is visible in the clifTs from Point Aconi to the millstone grit, a distance of about six miles, interrupted at only two or three places by low shingle beaches. The three upper seams have been clearly traced by borings and trial pits across the northern enc^ of Bou- lardrie island, but those below have been seen only at the places marked on the map by blacl< lines. There is, however, every reason to believe that they continue, without interruption, from the north-west shore in a south-easterly direction, as shown by the dotted lines, until they reach the faults above mentioned. The rela- tive ])osition and thickness of the coal-seams are shown in the following section, beginning at Point Aconi in descending order : — Strata of Sandstone and Slialo Coal (Point Aconi Seam) . Strata .... Coal . Shale Coal . Strata Coal . Clay . Coal . Clay . Coal . Strata Coal . Fire-clay . Coal . Ft. In. 50 300 Ft. In. 3 6 (Bonar's Seams) . 11 7 3 2 5 1 3 > (Stuhbert's Scam) m J 380 3 280 7 3 (Crawley's Seam) 7 G Strata(cont}iiningl)ituminoiisshalewithModiola,&<'. ) 5G0 c 2 ^ % 20 THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. ',.1 Coal . Shale Coal . Strata . Coal (Black Kock Seam) Strata (resting upon the IMillstone Grit) Coal Total Thickness Ft. In. Ft. III. 2 (5 ' 1 1 K (Mill Pond Seam) 1 4 1 fi , 1 . 400 585 2,507 9 33 « 2,G01 3 4 3;J The General resemblance of these seams and of certain strata associated with them, both in character and rela- tive position, to those of the Sydney Mines' section, is very striking, though there are some discrepancies, not, how- ever, of greater imj^orliince than in many instances in other parts of the (')al-field, where the identity of the beds is indisputable. It may, therefore, be safely con- cluded that, taking each series in descending order, those of the Boulardrie, in the first column of the following list, are the equivalents of those placed opposite to them, in the Sydney Mines' section : — ■ Boulardrie Section. Pt. Aconi Seam {Coal Sliale Coal f Coal I Clay Slubbcn's Seam% Coal Clay .Coal r Coal Crawley's Seam/ Clay Icoal Siidiry Mines' Section. Ft. In. Under the Sea rCoal . 3 8 Cranberry Ilead.^ Strata .15 8 Icoal . 10 ^Coal . 2 Lloyd's Cove -eam P (^ Chapel Point U])per Seam 3 2 6 1 6 7 5 4 ^ This senm thickens as it proceeds westwards, the upper "bed being four, nnd the lower two foet and a half, at Oxford Point, two miles weet of Chapel Point. s THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. 21 Ft. In. 4 4 3 8 15 8 10 2 2 6 1 3 6 7 5 4 Ft. In. Ft. In. rCoal . 2 (J^i Mill Pond Seam J Shale . 1 >Maiii Seam' k . 6 .Coal . 1 6j IJlack Rock Scam Coal . 4 Q / Indian Cove I Seam r Coal J Shale I Coal . 8 . 1 . 4 A very strong point in coniirmation of the identity of the two series of seams is the fiict that both tlie Black Eock and Indian Cove seams, the lowest beds in each section, liave roofs of black bituminous shale, containing modiubv^ cypndes, scales and spines of fishes, ^c. ; and further, that beds of the same kind of shale, containing fossils similar to the preceding, are found between the Chapel Point and the main seam in the Sydney, and the Crawley and the Mill Pond seams, in the Boulardrie section, on almost exactly the same horizon. The average dip of the strata in the Boulardrie district is north-east at angle of six degrees. The outcrops of the seams on the Little Entrance have been marked upon the map wherever they have been actually seen ; their course and continuation to the northward can only be determined wlien the position and throw of the ftiults, which have caused so much disturbance in the original position of the strata, have been correctly ascertained. The Cape Dauphin District, at the north-western ex- tremity of the Sydney coal-field, is separated from that of Boulardrie by the waters of the Great Entrance of the Bras d'Or lakes. Though occupying an area of little more than two square miles, all the formations of the carboniferous series are here found between the southern flank of the Syenitic hills of St. Anne's and the Great Entrance, perfect sections of the members of each forma- ^2J> f / ■ There is a parting' twenty inches Ironi bottom of thi.s soain at Sydney niine9. k THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. tion being visible at Cape Daupliin and Kelly's Cove — the northern and southern ends of the district. At both of those places the strata are inclined at au angle of sixty degrees dipping to the cast, but midway between them the strata are nearly vertical, being squeezed or com- pressed within very narrow limits at their outcrops by the upheaval of the Syenitic rocks. The coal-measm-es, as shown in the map, occupy an area of one square mile, in the form of the segment of a basin or trough similar to that at Cow Bay at the eastern extremity of the coal- field. Two seams of coal, in a vertical position, have been discovered midway between Cape Dauphin and Kelly's Cove — one four, the other six feet in thickness, separated by eighty-three feet of strata. The six-feet, which is the lowest seam, has also been discovered in a vertical position half a mile to the eastward ; and the four- feet, or upper seam, in a deep, ravine half a mile to the southward, dipping easterly at an angle of twelve degrees. The position of the several members of the carboniferous series in this interesting locality is shown in the annexed section : — «. Anni'i Hills. 1 X Qreat Entrance, a Syenite. b Carboniferous Limestone. c Millstone Grit. d Six Feet Scam. e Four Feet Seam. ff Coal ileusuies. At Kelly's Cove a narrow belt of quartzite is seen in the cliff lying between the carboniferous limestone and the Syenite, but it appears to have been squeezed out before it reached the locality of the above section. THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. 28 ClIAPTEli III. THE SYDNEY (JOAL-FiEiiD — continued. Th>', Glace Bay District. — As the coal-measures in the eastern division, between Mira Bay and Sydney Harbour, are most fully developed in the vicinity of Glace Bay, where they have been carefully surveyed by Professor Lesley and otlier skilful geologists, it will be best to describe them in the first instance ; we shall then be better prepared, taking the Glace Bay series as a starting- })oint, to define the mutual relations and establish the identity of the seams in the adjoining districts. On reference to the map it will be seen that the coal seams, marked on their strike by strong or broken lines, are disposed in the form of an elliotical basin or trough, of which the longitudinal axis runs in a nearly due east and west direction from Table Head towards the town of Sydney. By far the greatest portion of this basin lies under the sea ; the western end only — extending from the coast to the millstone grit, being available for mining purposes, though workings may at a future day be con- tinued some distance under the sea.^ This contingency, however, is not likely to occur very shortly, as the coal ^ Mr. Hull, the director of the Geological Survey of Ireland, in hia work on the coal-fields of Great Britain, estimates that coal-mining may be carried on at a perpendicular depth of 4,000 feet. If this be correct, taking the dip of the Glace Bay soams at an angle of five degrees, workings may be continued, from a seam cropping out on the shore, four miles under the sea. 24 THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. measures of the Glace Bay basin, bounded on tlie east and west by the sea coast and the millstone grit, and on the north and south by the anticlinals of Lingan and Cow Bay underlie a land area of at least sixty scjuare miles. The courses of these anticlinals will be pointed out at a subsequent page. The Hub seam, the highest in the series, is followed in succession by the Harbour, Three Foot, Back Pit, riielan, and several other seams, as shown in the annexed diagram, on the hne marked Section 1 on the map. This section, with the aid of the table which follows, will, it is hoped, give a correct idea of the relative posi- tion of each of the seams in the series: — lib" Hi:- Section of Glace Bay Basin. Wtst. Eaut. 11 10 1. Hub Seam. 2. llarbour Seam. 3. Three Foot Seam. 4. Back Pit 6. Phelan „ 6. Spencer or Ross Seam. 7. McRury Seam. 8. Lorway ? „ 9. Gardener „ 10. Two Feet „ 11. Martin's ,. Beginning at Table Head on the sea shore, we have, in descendin (Harbour Seam). 1 520 243 54 9 8 5 3 Coal . Black Shale Colli . Clay . Coal . Strata . Coal (riiolan Seam) Strata . Coal (Spencer or Koss Strata . Coal (McKury Seam)! Strata . Coal (Lorway Seam) Strata ... Coal (Gardener Seam) Strata . . . ' Coal (Not named) Strata . Coal (Martin's Scam) K SYDNEY COAL ■I'lElA). 25 Ft. J 11. I't. In. • 1 ^^ . 2 1 . 8 > (Back Pit Scam) 3 4 . 1| . 2 gJ 104 8 3 135 Seam)- V'" -y' ^{■""'. 5 00 y • ■ ■ 2 8 400 4 (> 4G0 250 4 9 2 2 Coal 2,75(1 . 51 4 4 51 4 • Total Thickness . 2,807 8 /^.••:. The Tracey seam of the Cow Bay district is said to lie 2,400 feet below the McEiiry seam, but it is not marked in the section or table, as it has not yet been found on the south side of Lingan Bay. For the same reason, the Lorway seam is marked in broken lines in the section, as it has only been proved about a mile to the southward of the line of section, and may possibly be a continuation of the Gardener seam.^ ' There is every reason to believe that all the seams named in the section ■will be found in the positions marked by broken lines on the map, as no faults or dislocations have been noticed; but it must be observed that they have only been actually traced in such places along their strike as are marked by strong black lines, from the shores of Indian Bay to Schooner Pond. There are several other thin seams interstratified with the above, but, being of no value, they have not been marked on the map. 26 THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. ilii i The Hub and Harbour seams are confined to the promontory bounded by the shores of Glace Bay and Indian Bay, where they run under the sea and do not reappear. All the others, down to the McEury seam inclusive, continue to the eastward as far as the north head of Cow Bay, where they also run under the sea. It IS probable, however, that a three-feet seam, which crops out on Flint Island, a mile and a half to the east- ward of Cow Bay Head, is a continuation of one of those seams, and that the island was at one time part of the adjacent mainland. Neither Mai:;in's nor the two-feet seam above it have yet been traced beyond the places where they wore first discovered. Many of the seams vary considerably in thickness in their course from Indian Bay to Schooner Pond ; ihe most remarkable instances, together with some other peculiarities, will be noticed in a future chapter, when the workings opened in them come under consideration. The direction of the dip of the several seams in the Glace Bay basin of course varies as they proceed along their curved lines of strike, from north-east on the eastern to east on the northern side of the basin, the angle of inclination rarely exceeding five degrees. The Cow Bay Basin is separated from that of Glace Bay by an anticlinal axis, formed by an undulation in the coal-measures, running in a westerly direction from the north end of Long Beach to its termination at a point, three mile s to the westward of Sand Lake, where it runs out. Its course is indicated by the opposite dips of the strata on its north and south sides, and, occasi(>nally, by blocks of weather-worn sandstone scattered along the surface, which have, apparently, been detached from a thick bed ot that material cropping out at Long Beach and along the line of the undulation or upheaval of the liiji THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. 27 strata. The annexed diagram shows the position of tlie scams of the Cow Bay basin, and their separation from their equivalents of the Ghice Bay basin on the opposite side of the anticlinal. &s. w N.y.E. Sea. CiLACi; 13.VY SEAMS. a. Tliree-Feot Seiim. b. Ikck Pit „ v'. riiolan „ d. Spencer or Hobs Scam. e. McEury „ cow DAY SKAMS . 1.1. Block-house Seam. 2.2. MeAulay 3.3. Spencer „ 4.4. jVIcUury „ 5.5. Three-Feet ,, 6.6. 1 7.7. <" Long Beach Seams. 8.8 J 9. Tracey Seam. In making a traverse from the sea coast along the line of Section No. 2, the McEiiry seam of the Cow Bay basin is the lowest that is met with to the northward of the anticlinal ridge. It will also be observed, by refer- ence to the map, that the greater portion of the Cow Bay basin passes under the waters of the bay, not more than 200 acres of the Block-house seam — the best in the series, being available for mining purposes. The following table shows the thickness and relative position of the Cow Bay seams, commencing in the centre of the basin at the Block-house mines, and descending towards the anticlinal : Ft. In. Ft. In. Strata of Sandstone and Shale .... 200 . • . Top Coal . Coal . > (Block -house Seam) 9 Strata . 350 ... Coal . . 2 2-] Clay . . 1 > (McAulay Seam) 1 4 10 Coal . 2 8J Strata . . 200 28 THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. I'iftii H',r v^oal (^Spencer Seam — the Koss Scum of Glace Bay) Strata .... Coal (McKury Seam) . Strata. Coal (Three-Feet Seam) otrcitii • • • • Coal .... Strata .... Coal (Long IJeach Seam) Coal Total Thickness Ft. In. Ft. In. 2 8 50 4 4 100 3 200 1 C 100 3 2 1,200 1 28 6 1,228 7 28 G ^ ^ s!^ i i\\ lit: I ii Proceeding southerly from tlie centre of the basin on the same line of section, a similar series of strata is met with, dipping, of course, in the opposite direction. Three miles further to the southward, a five-feet bed of coal, named the Tracey Seam, crops out on the north shore of Mira Bay, which is said to lie at a depth of 2,400 feet below the ' Three-Feet ' seam in the above section. On the southern shore of Cow Bay there arc several seams, or rather groups of seams, in the cliffs, running across the narrow promontory called the Soutli Head. They are supposed to be continuations of some of the beds on the south side of the Cow Bay basin, but they bear such a slight resemblance, in stratigraphical features, to any of those beds, that it is hard to believe they can really be identical. Passing into the sea on the south side of the headland, all further traces of them are lost, as the space once occupied by the coal-measures at the eastern end of the Sydney coal-field, extending probably as far as the metamorphic rocks of Scatari Island, is now covered by the waters of Mira Bay. The following sec- tion, taken by the writer many years ago, from the South THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. 29 Head to False Bay beach, may poi-haps bo useful in fix- iii(' the relations of the seams in question to those of the north side of Cow Bay : 4 130 Ft. In. Strata GO Coal . . . . 2 0>| Fireclay . . . 2 | Coal . . . . 2 6 > Fireclay . • . 2 | Coal . . . . 2 OJ Strata . Coal . Fireclay Coal . Shale . Coal . Fireclay Coal . Strata . Coal . Fireclay Shale , Coal . . . .04^ Laveis . . H Fireclay Coal . Strata 70 Coal . Strata 50 Coal . Strata, inchuling some thin coals, down to the Tracey Seam 2,200 Fir.st group of Seams . 2 6~ 3 r, J-. , Second group of , ^ Seams 3 3 6. Third group of Lay CIS . 91 4 G 4 4 3 Coal Total Thickness yt. In. G 6 12 U G 30 1 4 1 2 2,570 22 4 22 4 2,592 4 There is some dilTerence of opinion respecting the iden- tity of certain seams in the Glace Bay and Cow Bay basins, but it seems to be generally admitted, by those who iiave carefully studied the subject, that the Phelan 30 THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. seam of the Glace Bay is the equivalent of the McAulay seam of tlic Cow Bay basin. Referring again to tlie section of the Glace Bay basin, the reader will observe that there are four seams desig- nated the Lorway, the Gardener, the ' Two-Feet,' and the Martin seams. None of these have yet been traced to the eastward beyond the places marked in black lines on tlie map, but it is probable that they continue in that direction along the courses of the broken lines, and run out on the north side of the anticlinal. If this be so, they are probably the equivalents of the Long Beach seams ; and the Six-Feet seams, on the north side of Lingan Har- bour, three miles to the westward of the Lingan Mines, may be the continuation of the Tracey seam of the Cow Bay basin. Under this impression the writer has ven- tured to mark, in a broken line, its supposed strike parallel to the Glace Bay beds, making a deflection to the eastward near the western end of the anticlinal so often mentioned. It is expected that an examination of the coal-field will soon be undertaken by the accomplished geologists of the Canadian Survey, when these points will, no doubt, be satisfactorily determined ; and the limits of the coal-field to the south-westward of tlie Cow Bay rond (where some thin scams of coal have been discovered) be correctly ascertained. The Linijan and Low Point District, bounded on the north by Sydney Harbour, on the south by Indian Bay, and on the n(3rth-east by the sea coast, covers an area of about fourteen square miles containing several valuable seams of coal. It is separated from the Glace Bay basin by an anticlinal running in the direction of the line A, B, C, (,'iee map), the result, probably, of a fault wliich may be seen in tlie cliff a short distance to the northward of Little Head, and which may be traced in its course to \/^ THE SYDNFA' COAL-FIELD. i f 31 " ' the westward, from A to B, by means of several peren- nial springs issning at the surface along the line of frac- ture. On the nortli side of the fault or anticlinal, the coal- measures seen in the cliffs of Indian Bay dip, N. 34° E., or nearly at right angles to the dip of the Glace Bay series on the south shore of the same bay. From tlie North Head of Indian Bay to Low Point — a distance of five miles, tlie coal-measures are clearly exposed in the cliffs running nearly parallel to the coast as fiir as tlie Barasois with a strike of N. 5G° VV. and dip of twelve degrees. At the Barasois the strike begins to bend romid to the westward, and the dip of the beds to increase, the former being N. 80° W. and the latter seventeen degrees, half a mile to the eastward of the lighthouse. On the south shore of Sydney Harbour, from the lighthouse to Mc rhee's ferry, the strike of tlie measures is nearly due west, the dip varying from thirty-nine degrees, half a mile to the westw^ard of the lighthouse, to thirty degrees at the Ferry. The three lowest seams in the following section of the Lingan series are seen in the cliff between the North Head and the harbour ; all the others crop out in succes- sion along the coast towards the lighthouse, where the Carr seam — the highest in the section — forms the common starting-point of the Lingan and Low Point series. The strike of the several seams, marked in broken lines on the map. is drawn parallel to that of the main seam, wliicli has been correctly ascertained in the pit workings extend- ing nearly a mile from the shore of Indian Bay towards Low Point. The outcrops of some of the seams liave been observed in the brooks running into tlie Barasois Pond about a mile further to the westward, but their identity has not been determined. S2 THE SYDNEY COAL-FIELD. Section of Lingan Series in descending order Strata of Sandstone and Shale .... 2 8- 2 ^ (Barasoia Soam) . 6 0. 1 Coal (Cart's Seam) Strata . rCoal . 2< Fireclay LCoal . Strata .... .3 Coal (Dunphy's Seam) . Strata .... 4 Coal (David's Head Seam) Strata .... 5 Coal (North Head Seam) Strata .... rCoal . . .30 fi< Shale . . .01 LCoal . . .58 Strata ....... 7 Coal (not named) ..... Strata, Avith some thin layers of coal {Layers of Coal and "| Shale. . . 8 ? (LoAvest Seam) Coal . . . 2 sJ Coal Total Thicknoss (Lignan Seam') . :Main Ft. In. Ft. In. 40 4 220 2 51 81 240 82 1 83 125 8 8 8 4 7 3 8 8 2 3 2 8 927 9 40 3 40 3 — ^^^ 9G8 m w No portion of tlie Sydney coal-field presents vsuch a perfect section of the measures as the Low Point vshore, where the high angle of dip brings tlie outcrops of nine * The above section was talcen at the sea-shore. As the works progressed the shale became gradually thicker, imtil it exceeded eight feet at a distance of three quarters of a mile from the shore, when it began to decrease. A similar change occurred in the Phelan Seam in the Bridgeport workings on the south side of Indian Bay, where the same layer of shale, four inches in thickness on the shore, in the course of half a mile increased to 28 feet. It then began to decrease rapidly, and has entirely disappeared in the workings of the Caledonia Colliery further to the eastward. THE SYDNEY COAT.-FIEIJ). 33 seams, all except two of workable tliickiiess, nearer to one another than in any other district. The following section, chiefly compiled from a report made by Dr. Daw- son for the Victoria Mining Company in 1868, shows their thickness and relative position : — Strata of Sandstone, Shale, &c. 1 Coal (Carr's Seam) . Strata . . . . . rsiiale and Coal ' Coal 1 3^ 1 1 7 1 Q A ^ (Paint Seam) 3 1 2 4 0. Underclay Coal Sliale Coal Shale . . Coal Strata .... 3 Coal (Crandall Seam) otrcit> (Seam worked) . Coal . . 4 3j ^ Strata, containing several seams under 20 inches in thicknes.s ....... Total . Ft. 6 In 300 6 1,500 1,872 U^ At Mabou, ten miles to the northward of Port Hood, several seams of coal — one thirteen feet in thickness — are found on both sides of a narrow basin not more than half a mile in diameter in the direction of the coast line, extending westerly under the sea. About half a mile further north a similar series of seams occurs, having a northerly dip, forming the southern side of another basin, supposed to be identical with the preceding ; but it must be noted, however, that the north side of this second basin has not yet been determined. These two basins, caused by an undulation of the measures, ware probably once united, and have been separated by the denudation 1/ " ' M \ . !S' THE INVEHNKSS AND HICIIMONI) (^KVLKIKLDS. 39 of the strata wliidi covurod tlic crest uf the aiiticliiml. The ()uteroj)s of four \voik;>l)k; seams of roal have been oxaiiiiiied hi this h)cality, di[)j)iii«^ northerly, on tlie st)uth side of the first basin, at an angle of seventy degrees, ■within a horizontal distance of 200 yards; consecjuently, J he vertical dei)th of the strata associated with them will not exceed 550 feet. As no section of tlie strata has been made, the thickness of each seam can only be given as follows : — Tlio first or highest seam SL'coiid third . fourth If Ft. In. 5 7 13 4 6 3 to The fourth bed, composed partly of cannel coal, is said to lie only a few feet below the thirteeu-feet seam. The range of the beds inland being very small, this accumula- tion of twenty-nine feet of coal within a vertical depth of only 550 feet, which, under more favourable conditions, would be exceedingly valuable, may be considered at the present day of little importance for mining purposes. At Broad Cove, twelve miles further to the north, mid- way between Mabou and Margarie Eiver, there is another patch of coal measures, occupying an area of about one square mile, dipping to the north at an angle of ten degrees, but it does not appear that any attempt has been made to ascertain its correct limits. The following section has been compiled from a report made in 1865 by a surveyor for the Broad Cove Mining Company : — Ft. In. Coal (the highest bed) . . . . . 3 Strata ....... Coal ........ Strata ....... Coal Strata ....... Coal Total 340 5 100 7 240 3 • 6 iVJS G iif^ 40 THE INVERNESS AND RICHMOND COAL-FIELDS. lli There are said to be indications of other seams between the first and third of the above series, but no openings have been made upon them. / At Chimney Corner; eiglit miles to the south of Mar- garie harbour, three seams of coal are seen in the clifls, dipping to the norih at an angle of forty degrees, but their extension inland has not yet been ascertained. Like the areas previously described, the Chimney Corner tract merely forms part of the margin of a basin lying luider the sea. Their thickness and position is shown in the following section ^ : — Coal (the highest bed) Strata Coal Strata Coal . Total Ft. In 3 88 i> •200 3 6 2i)0 C, It is not likely that the coal seams of Inverness will supply much coal for the market for many years to come, as the Sydney coal-field, so much more favourably situated both for working and shipment, will furnish all that will be required for many generations at less cost ; but with a large export to the United States, the certain establish- ment of extensive iron works and other manufactories in the colonies, and a vastly increased consumption of coal by steamers, which are rapidly driving sailing vessels oil' the ocean, the most accessible parts of the Sydney coal- iield will, in the course of time, be exhausted, when tlie coal seams of Inverness must be worked to meet the m m ii .' ■Ml ' The writer is indebted for most of the information above given relative to the coal seams at Port Hood, Mabou, and Chimue}' Corner, to a valuable aidcle in the Transactions of the North of England Institute of jNIining lOiigineers, by J. Rutherford, Esq., Government Inspsctor of Muies in Nova Scotia. : 'I * r; . THE INVERNESS AND UICIIMOM) COAL-FIELDS. 41 supply rGquired. In view of this contingency — distant though it may be — iinmodiate steps sliould be taken by the Government to ascertain the exact situation and economic value of every seam of coal in Inverness ; because, owing to the rapid wearing away of the cliffs on a coast exposed to the heavy surf of the gulf during the prevalent north-west winds, and to the combined action of severe frosts and rapid thaws, all vestiges of these valuable coal seams will soon be entirely obliterated. In proof of this view it need only be stated that Seal Island, composed of carboniferous strata, whi'-h, beyond all doubt, was once connected with the mainland, is now separated from it by a channel two miles in width, the intervening land having been entirely swept away by the waves. It is evident, therefore, thiit a belt of coast, at least two miles wide, has disappeared, effacing the out- crops of many valuable seams of coal. If this process be repeated to the extent of only one mile more, it is equally evident that all the outcrops now visible will be washed away, leaving ' not a wreck behind.' If correct plans are now made, showing the position of every seam, at a future time, when all traces of them have disappeared, they may be reached by cross-cuts driven from the bottom of shafts sunk upon the adjacent shore, and worked under the sea. The Richmond Coal-field — the only one that now remains to be noticed — is situated at tiie southern ex- tremity of the island, between the river Inhabitants and the Gut of Canceau. The carboniferous rocks in this dis- trict cover an area of about twenty square miles, and contain several workable seams of coal. In the cliff' on the western shore of Sea Coal Bay, close to the southern end of the Gut of Canceau, there is a seam eleyen feet in thickness, composed of alternating layers of coal and 'I!:' 42 THE INVEKNESS AND KICIIMONl) COAL-FIELDS. m M ft ftB'-l 'f": '}i- bituminoiis sluile ; {mother, four feet thick, of clear coal ; and a third, five feet and a half thick, including a fifteen inch layer of shale in the middle. All those seams occur within very narrow limits, dipping to the south-west at an angle of eighty degrees.^ At Little Eiver, a small stream running into Sea Coal 13ay, two miles and a half to the north-east of the pre- ceding locality, there are tw^o seams, one three, the other four feet in thickness, nearly in a vertical position, separated by 154 feet of sandstones and shales. Traces of coal have also been seen at two places to the eastward, near the mouth of the river Inhabitants. The measures in this coal-field are, however, so much disturbed by faults, that the extent and relative position of the several seams cannot be made out ; any attempt to ascertain the true position, extent, and consequent value of the seams, will be attended with much expense, as the country is low, and there are few cliffs or natural sections ; the out- crops of the strata also are concealed by a tliick deposit of boulder-clay. The seams all occur in situations favour- able for shipment, but it is not likely that, unless they can be found in less highly inclined positions, they can be worked with profit to any great depth, as, in addition to the difficultv of working vertical seams, the expense of keeping t' .^ mines free from water will be a very serious obstacle, and greatly increase the cc t of production. In compiling the preceding sketches, brief and imper- fect as they must necessarily be within such narrow limits, the writer begs to say that his information has been derived either from authentic sources or his own ' Dr. Dawson, who was employed by the Ooverunient to make a survey of the district, says tliat the eleven-feet bed has been tlirown over on its fiici!, so that tlie underclay, which was originally the floor, now forms the roof of the seam. THE INVEliNESS AND RICIIMOM]> COAL-FIELDS. 43 personal observation, and that the reader may rely upon their accuracy in forming his estimate of the com- parative value and importance of the various establisli- ments in the island, which will be described in a future cliapter. In the mean time it will be necessary to devote two or three cha[)ters to the consideration of the rise and progress of the coal trade previous to the year 1858, when the General Mining Association surrendered their exclusive riglit to all the mines and minerals of Nova Scotia and Ca])e Breton, except certain stipulated areas in the coal-fields. '^ ('i-^: 44 THE KAKLY IHSTOltY OF Till': COAJ. TKADK. ji'r. •.I CIIArTEK V. ;!i \4 t ■ .;^;' !l|;l III TIIK EARLY HISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE. From the discovery of the ishuid of Cape Breton by Sebasticiii Cabot in 1498, to the year 1G72 — a period of nearly 200 years — although nuniercuis voyages were made to the coast by intelligent enterprising navigators, there is no mention whatever, in any of their narratives, of the existence of the coal seams which, being plainly visible in the cliffs of almost every bay or headland, could not possibly have escaped observation. Captain Strong of the 'Marigold,' who visited Cape Breton in 1593, has given us an account of the chief productions of the island, including the various kinds of trees and even small shrubs, but has not once mentioned the coal seams ; and Captain Leigh, of the ' Hopewell,' who spent several days on the coast in 1597, and landed, as he tells us, at five different places, all in the middle of the Sydney coal-field, is equally silent upon the subjcict. Both of these navi- gators — evidently, judging from their narratives, intelligent and observing men — must have been well aware of the value of coal as an article of commerce, as the English coal trade flourished greatly in their time (the reign of Elizabeth), and was considered an important source of national revenue. It is still more surprising that Champlain, a man of education and a keen observer of natural phenomena, who circumnavigated the island in 1607, and lias given us accurate descriptions of the chief harbours, and some {jjii.. i '. TTIE EARLY HISTORY OF TTTE COAL TRADE. 45 ' account of the productions of the island, does not make tlie slightest allusion to the coal seams, although he notices sucli small matters as the abundance of oysters ; adding, wiiich by the way is not true, that they are of very poor flavour. Joan de Laet, in his history of the New World,* is equally silent about coal in his enumeration of the natural productions of the island ; but he does not forget to tell us that such ' smal^ deer ' as crabs and lobsters are found 'in almost incredible abundance in the harbour, which the savages, in their language, call Cibo ' (Sydney). The first printed notice of the existence of coal in Cape Breton is met with in the ' Description geograpkique et historique des Castes de VAmerique Septentrionale,'' by Nicholas Denys, published in Paris in 1G72. According to the historian Charlevoix, Denys was appointed go- vernor of all the eastern part of Acadie, including Cape Breton, in the year 1637. He subsequently obtained a concession (in 1654) from Louis XIV, of the whole island, with full powers to search for and work mines of gold, silver, copper, and other minerals, paying to the king one-tenth of the profit. In the preface to his book, he says, ' There are mines of coal through the whole extent of my concession, near the sea-coast, of a quality equal to the Scotch, which I have proved at various times on the spot, and also in France, where I brought them for trial.' He adds, *at Bale des Espagnols (Sydney) there is a mountain of very good coal, four leagues up the river,' and ' another mine near the little entrance of the ]iras d'Or Lakes ; ' also, that ' at Le Chadye, on the north-west coast (probably Mabou), there is a small river suitable for chaloups, where there is a plentiful salmon fishery and a • Novus Orbis ; Loydon, l(i'.]t]. 40 TITK RAIJI.Y HISTORY OF TTTK (JOAL TItADE. i|i III coal mine.' Being almost exclusively en<^aged in the fisheries and fur trade, Denys, during his long residence in Cape Breton, made no attempt to work the coal seams, for want, probably, of a market. After his departure, in 1G72, it ai)pears tliat unauthorised persons helped tliem- selves to whatever coal they needed from the cliffs, with- out permission from his sons, whom he left in charge of his property, as an ordonnance v/as issued on August 21, 1G77, by M. Duchesneau, the Intendant of New France, reco"nisin(i; and establishing? Denys's rijjfht to exact a duty of twenty sous per ton from all persons taking coal from Cape Breton. Denys's patent seems to have been revoked in 1690.^ The importance of the coal of Cape Breton w\as fully recognised in a memoir, submitted in 1708 to the French government by M. liaudot, intendant of the finances, and his son, intendant of the marine of Canada, recom- mending the establishment of an entrepot on the sea- board, open at all seasons of the year, where the productions of Europe and the West Indies could be stored ready for shipment to Canada. The Messrs. Raudot recommended that a port in Cape Breton should be chosen for this purpose, ' as the island could furnish old France with coal, codfi?h, oils, plaster, and timber, of its own growth and produce.' The next notice of the coal of Cape Breton occurs in the Journal of Admiral Ilovenden Walker, who com- manded the unfortunate expedition sent to reduce Quebec in 1711. Several ships and nearly a thousand men having been lost at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, owing, * The existence of coal upon the Continent of North Aniorioa is first mentioned by the Jesi'.il, Father Hennepin, in 1098. He says, ' there is a coal mine above Fort Crevecceur, on the Illiuois river;' also, ' there are mines of coal, slate, and iron in the country occupied by tiio I'iiuitoui Indians,' (Peoria). m TIIK KAi:i,Y mSTOKY OF T1!K ('OAl. TKAKK. 47 as it was alleged, to the ignorance of the pilots, it was decided at a Council of War to give up the enterprise and proceed to S[)ani.sli Bay (Sydney), which had been selected as the most convenient rendezvous in case of the fleet being dis})ersed. Admiral Walker says, ' The island had always, in time of peace, been used in common botli l)y the English and the French for loading coals, which are extraordinarily good here, and taken out of the clifls with iron crow-bars only, and no other labour.' The English^ wdio took coal in common with the French, were most likely New England colonists, who fished on the coast in sunnner and cariied away a few tons of coal on their homeward voyage ; the same, probably, that helped themselves some years before without permission from M. Denys. The first attempt at mining, in any thing like a regular form, was made upon the ten-feet seam on the north side of Cow Bay in 1720, when it was found necessary to ob- tain a supply of fuel for the host of officers, soldiers, me- chanics, traders, and labourei's, who went out to lay tlie foundations of the celebrated foitress of Louisbourg, Some relics have been found recently in the old woi'k- ings,- but they may have belonged to a later periud. Cargoes of coal were, about this time, exported from Cow Bay to Boston ; for, although direct trade between the French and English colonists was forbidden by the treaty of neutrality, the New England traders, not":ithstanding, carried on an active clandestine trade with Louisbourg, receiving French products in exchange for bricks, lum- ber and provisions. When Messr.5. Bradstreet and Newton visited Louisbourg, by order of the Governor of Nova Scotia, to demand redress for the depredations committed by the Cape Breton Indians at Canceau, in 1724, they foui d fourteen English trading vessels in that port, ex- 4h 48 THE KAULY HISTORY OF TIIK ("OAI- TRADE. W^ elusive of one which had left to load coal at Cow l^ay for Boston. This small beginning was, perliaps, tlie inau- guration of the foreign coal trade at Cape Breton. In 1728 tlie French shipped some few cargoes to Martinique for boiling sugar, but from that time until the fall of Louisbourg, in 1745, there are no records of any further exportations. The value of the coal-fields uf Cape Breton had, at this time, become well-known in France, as Cliarlevoix states, in his ' History of New France,' pub- lished in 1744, that the ' island abounded in coal pits, which were in the mountains ; consequently, the trouble and expense of digging deep and making drains to carry off the v/ater were greatly saved.' Three places, in the map appended to his work, bear names indicative of the known existence of coal in their vicinity, namely, Ance du Charbon, Cap Charbon, and Bale du Charbon, now called Big Pond, North Head of Indian Bay, and Schooner Pond Cove respectively. Whilst England held possession of Cape Breton, from its conquest in 1745 to its restoration to France in 1749, the garrison of Louisbourg was supplied with coal from mines opened at the Burnt Head and Little Entrance of the Bras d'Or. It is quite evident the garrison was abun- dantly sui)plied, for Admiral Knowles, the governor, complains that ' the cost of fuel in the winter of 1745-46 was £6,000, notwithstanding the number of houses that were pulled down and burned.* Colonel Hopson, who succeeded Admiral Knowles in the government of Cape Breton, reported in April 1748, to the Duke of Newcastle, that he was apprehensive of an attack upon the colliery at Burnt Head by the Indians, who were warmly attached to the French, and that he had sent to Boston for a blockhouse to be erected thei'e for its protection. The blockhouse was surrounded by a TTTE EART.Y HISTORY OF THE COAL TRAllK. 49 ditch (the remains of which may still be seen), and gurri- soned by an ollicer and fifty soldiers. An officer and a few soldiers were also stationed at the Little Entrance of the Bras d'Or. Here, also, may be seen the ruins of an old building which still goes by the anie of the ' King's Store.' The workmen emplo)x»d at Burnt Head were mostly Frenchmen, wlio had remained in Cape l^reton after the fall t)f Louisbourg, and taken the oath of allegiance to the British sovereign. Some of them owned small vessels, in which they carried coal and wood to Louisbourg for the use of the English garrison. Having rendered tliemselves o])noxious to their old compatriots by taking the oath of allegiance, these unfortunate Frenchmen were attacked in their settlement at Indian Bay in the month of July, 1748, by a band of forty French Canadians, led by a noted rover named Jacques Coste, when their houses and about 2,000 cords of wood were burned and three of their vessels captured. Coste carried off twenty-four men and women from Indian Bay, and an English officer and one soldier from the Little Entrance of the Bras d'Or, to Canada. No attempt was made upon the colliei^y and fort at Burnt Head, commanded by Lieutenant Rhodes ; but owing to the capture of the schooners and their crews, Louisbourg was deprived of its usual supply of coal for more than a month. The Abbe Eaynal says, in his ' History of Commerce,' that there was * a prodigious demand for Cape Breton coal from New England from the year 1745 to 1749;' but there is nothing in the Colonial Documents in the Record Office to show that any considerable quantity of coal was shipped from Louisbourg. During the occupation of the island by the French, from its restoration in 1749 to its second and final con- E r,i 50 TIIK EAKLY IIISTOKY OK THE COAL TIJADE. '1'.' lir Hi- i m li^' A" quest ill 175S, it does not jippoar tliat mueli ro'l wmh exported to tlic Britisli colonies, altlioujzli fin active trade was carried on by tlie Eiiglisli colonists with Louisl)our;jf fit this ])eriod, as Colonel Cornwallis, the Governor of Nova Scotia, says that, in 1751, 150 vessels beioiiginjz: to New York and Boston traded with Lou isbourg; and his successor, Colonel Lawrence, complains, in 1754, that tlie Boston traders supplied Louisbourg in preference to Halifax with provisions, and that there were sonicitiines thirty of their vessels lying in the former port. It is reasonable to conclude that same of these vessels occa- sionally took return cargoes of coal from Cape Breton, but there is no record of such a trade having subsisted. In confirmation of this the Abbe Eaynal says ' the mines would probably have been forsaken altogether during the French occupation of the island, from 1749 to 1758, had not ships sent out to the French West India Islands wanted ballast.'y M. Pichon, secretary of Count Euymond, the f Governor of Louisbourg, tells us, in his ' Ilistory of Cape '\j^ Breton,' published in 17G0, that he accompanied a party of officers sent by the Governor, in the spring of 1752, to survey the coasts of the island and to collect statistical information. In the course of their travels they visited all the bays and harbours on the north-east coast •; but Pichon says nothing about the mines except that ' there were two pits [he probably means seams] at Bale des Espag- nols (Sydney ^, and that the English had a coal pit at Burnt Head defended bv a fort of considerable strength, where, with fifty men, they successfully repulsed the attacks of the savages and kept possession of the fort.' He adds, that the pit took fire in 1752, when the fort also was entirely consumed. Traces of this fire may still be seen along the outcrop of the seam as far as Glace Bay, a distance of nearly one mile. ' . *■ \,) ml THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE. 51 There are no records of any coal having been raised in CM[)e Breton for several years following the rednction of Louisbourg in 1758, except about 3,000 tons annually for the use of the garrisons at that place and at Halifax. It is stated, in a letter from Lieut.-Colonel Francklyn to the Lords of Trade, that this coal cost the Government four shillings ])er ton, exclusive of implements and stores. After the Treaty of Paris, in 1703,' instructions were sent out to the governor at Halifax to issue free grants of land, in Nova Scotia proper, to the officers of the army and navy who had served in America ; but he was re- quested to iss\ie no grants in Caj^e Breton, which was then annexed to Nova Scotia, until an accurate survey should be made of the island. This survey was not completed until 17 07 ; but, in the meantime, as the pro- hibition did not extend to the leasing of mines, several officers, who had noted the great value of the coal seams, applied for leases in Cape Breton. On March 19, 1704, Brigadier-General Howe and some other officers of distinction, who had served in the late war in America, petitioned the king for a grant of limd in Cape Breton, ' being,' as they stated, ' desirous of becoming adventurers in opening coal mines, and of endeavouring to establish a colliery for the better supply- ing the several colonies and garrisons on the Continent with fuel. That, to enable them to carry this their design into execution, they humbly pray to have granted to them as tlieir allotment a tract of land on the east shore of the island, extending from the point on the north side of Mira Bay to the south-east side of the ' The existence of coals on the Wabash, in Indiana, was observed by Col. Croffliaii in 17()f?, when he was a prisoner in the hands of a band of Indians. The Pittsburg coal was not discoA'ered until 1770. Tlie anthracite coal- field of Pennsylvania was discovered about the same ti no. r, 2 fr jlr iif^^ i:l^ \v> ) . a ; f'ii ■ 'if! li .-i; E if'' 52 THE EARLY HISTORY OF TIIK COAL TRADl-;. entrance into tlie Bras d'Or and seven miles iiilaijd, and supposed to contain about 55,000 acres.' Tliey ofTered to pay a royalty of two sliillings sterling per chal- dron, London measure, on every chaldron exported. It will be seen, by reference to the map, that the triict applied for embraced nearly the whole of the Sydney coal-field. In the month of May, 17G4, Sii- Samuel Fluyders and three associates applied to the Lords of Trade for a lease of all the coals in the island, ofiering, ' u[)on having the mines for ten years free of tax, to pay two shillings and sixpence sterling for every chaldron they ship for the further term of ten years ; three shillings and ninepence for the next ten years ; and five shiUings per chaldron for the last ten years of their lease.' Li a subsequent application, Sir Samuel and his friends, fmding, probably, there was no chance of obtaining the whole island, asked for a grant of 100,000 acres between the Mira Eiver and tlie great entrance of the Bras d'Or, and a lease of all the coal thereon for thirty years ; undertaking to settle thereon not less than one himdred persons eveiy five years ; to build a town on one of the harbours ; to pay a quit-rent after the first ten years of two shillings and one penny upon every hundred acres of land ; and a royalty of two shillings and sixpence sterling per chal- dron during the first ten years, and five shillings per chaldron during the remainder of their lease on all coal exported. Neither of these proposals was accepted by the Go- vernment, although the Lords of Trade recommended that a lease should be granted to Brigadier-General Howe and his associates, because it would be the means of lowering the price of coal in England, from which large quantities were exported to America ; would be a boon THE FAI?TT HISTORY OF TTIF COAL TRADE. 53 to tlie colonics, where fuel was becoming daily scarcer ; and would be a source of considerable revenue.' Several other a[)plications were made for leases about the same time, but only one will be noticed, as it shows the exaggerated notions which then prevailed of the extent of the coal seanis in Cape Breton. ' A design is on foot for establishing a company to work to advantage the coal mines, which have this great superiority over all others, that the coals are within three feet of the surface, and the most excellent ever seen. There will be no occasion for digging underground, or making drains to carry off the water, as in England, for the mines consist of entire mountains of coal, and are sufficient to supply all the British plantations in America for ten centuries.'^ This very flattening * design,' like its predecessors, came to nought, as likewise did a scheme for making salt, started by one William Hutton in the same year, who obtained permission to dig for coal at any place except where the troops were at work. Notwithstanding the failure of so many attempts to obtain leases, others, with more moderate, and conse- quently more feasible views, were anxious to embark in coal-mining. In the month of September 176G, Lieut.- Colonel Francklyn, the Governor of Nova Scotia, under- standing that applications would shortly be made for leases, addressed a letter to the Lords of Trade, giving such information as he thought would be useful to their lordships in forming a just appreciation of the coal seams, and concluded by recommending that the mines should be leased. He stated in his letter that the only mine then open was situated on the north shore of Cow ■tel • Records in State Paper Office. '"* Scot's Magiiziue, July, 170r). w ''\ ' 'J.'t . 54 THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE. 11 i- ,?•'■ ii V hi m m m III; :W Bay,^ and that the establishment consisted of a picketted fort 100 feet square, v/ith a block-house, barracks and store-houses ; also a wharf convenient for shipment close to the mines. Vessels of .80 to 100 tons could load at this wharf between June 1 and October 15, ' when the wharf must be taken down and rebuilt in the spring, the bay being so open, and the drifts of ice so violent, as to carry it away in the winter season.' He says the mine is in good order and well propped, ' the vein being good, and, as he was told, twelve feet thick and half a mile wide,' and could employ twenty men daily Francklyn proposed that coal sliould I;o sold at the mines for exportp.tion, and recommended that it should be taken to Halifax for reshipment in vessels going out in ballast. He calculated that a revenue of 500/. to 1000/. might be raised, which he proposed to expend in making roads. This wise advice, however, was not followed ; on the contrary, at a Council held at the Court of St. James's on December 3, in the same year, ' His Majesty, with the advice of the Privy Council, declared his royal pleasure not at present to authorise or permit any coal mines to be opened and worked in the island of Cape Breton, and that all petitions and proposals for that purpose be dismissed this Board.' It miglit have been supposed that this clear and posi- tive order would have been strictly complied with, yet it appears from the Eecords that Lord William Campbell, who was appointed Governor of Nova Scotia in November 17 6 G, granted an exclusive right, in the month of April following, to Benjamin Gerrish, William Lloyd, James Armstrong, and Peter Bard, merchants of Halifax, to dig 3,000 chaldrons of coal ' anywhere, except from such ' The site of the works now known fi" the Block House Miiies. THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE. 55 j)laces wlicre his Majesty's troops were at work digging for the use of the garrisons/ The grant, which was to determine in eight months, authorised the lessees to raise 3,000 chaldrons, paying 400/. sterhng for the privilege, Avith a provision that, in case of any sudden or unforeseen accident they 'were prevented from digging and carrying away 3,000 chaldrons in eight months, a reasonable extension of their time should be allowed. Tlie lessees were also bound to send 1,500 chaldrons to Halifax, and to sell it there at no higher rate than twenty-six shillings sterling per chaldron. Gerrish and his partners opened a mine at Spanish Eiver (Sydney) — the exact locality is not mentioned — from whence they shipped during the year — To Halifax . . 1,783 ., New York 60 ,, Providence 54 „ Boston ... 44 ,, Philadelphia 45 ,, Louisbourg 76 „ England . . . . 217 Total 2,279 chaldrons. On February 22, 1768, they petitioned for further time to enable them to ship the balance of their contract, alleging ' that it could not be completed in the time specified, because several of their works had fallen in; larger quantities than usual had been imported from Europe ; and a large quantity of coal had been smuggled from Cape Breton to New England by one Alexander Ijce,^ of Louisbourg, which brought down the price so nmch that it would not pay them to ship more than ' March 22ud, 1767. Alexander Lee was prosecuted by the Attorney- General for having, contrary to the Governor's proclamation, dug and carried away a large quantity of coals from Cow Bay, in the Isle of Breton. (Minutes of Council.) 56 THE EAKLY IIISTOTlY OF THE COAL TI?A1)F. ?;- I hi ptl 1 li,. ^1 ! ' m above mentioned/ This contravention of tlie king's order did not escape the notice of the Secretary of State, wlio called upon the Governor to state why he had granted a lease to Gerrish and his partners in direct opposition to his Majesty's orders, to which Lord William Campbell replied that, ' having been told the coal composed tlie surface of the island, and coi:M be easily taken away by any adventurer,' he considered it was better to use it and apply the proceeds to the making of roads in the pro- vince. He also informed the Secretary of State that tlie mines had been quite neglected since 1758, and that if the detachment of the 59th Ee^iment was removed from Louisbourg, ' the coal mines in the neighbourhood could be uninterruptedly worked by any people who thought proper to go there, as the prohibition before proceeded from a fixed guard of troops on the spot.' He suggested, at the same time, that the soldiers stationed there might be usefully employed in working the mines. In the month of February 1768, the Secretary of State again informed the Governor that 'no more licences must be granted for taking (^oals from the clills in the island of Cape Breton.' It is hard to conceive what could have been the reason for persisting in this mistaken policy; for if short leases had been granted, a great deal of coal whicli fell from the clifls every spring, and was washed away by the surf, might have been collected to supply Halifax witli fuel. Besides, it would have saved the Government a vast amount of trouble and expense in keeping off trespassers, who about this time carried off large quantities of coal from the cliffs. This illicit traffic continued to increase to such a degree, that the Governor, on May 4, 1770, informed the Council he had applied to Lieut.-Colonel Leslie, commanding his Majesty's troops in the })r()vince, and had obtained from THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE. 57 liiiii a promise to furnish a suflicient force to prevent trespassing on the king's riglits in future, and that he wished to learn the opinion of the Council as to tlie measures proper to be taken. ' On which the Council advised that the chief magistrate at Louisbourg should be directed to proceed to Cow Bay, and require all persons tliere^ to depart immediately; and that he should put tlie troops into the barracks or houses there belonging to the king, giving them orders to prevent any coals being dug or carried thence without the Governor's special order. It was ordered also that a proclamation be issued, strictly proliibiting all persons to dig or carry away any coals from the Isle of Breton.' A detachment was accordingly sent down to Cow Bay early in the spring, where 500 cluddrons of coal, dug by trespassers during the previous winter, ready for shipment, were seized and sent to Halifax for tlie use of the troops. ^ Both the garrison and town of Halifax were about this time chiefly supplied with coal from a mine recently opened at Spanish Eiver (Sydney), which was worked by sokliers, but wlien the troubles began in the British Bi-ovinces (now the United States), and a large for ".e was collected there, the troops consumed so much coal that tlie town suffered greatly from the scarcity of fuel. In this difficulty the House of Assembly, in 1775, petitioned the king for leave to dig coals in Cape Breton, but appa- rently without success. In 1777 forty men of Colonel Legge's regiment were employed in digging coals at the Spanish Kiver mines. During tlie American revolutionary war, it was found necessary to send ships of war to i i''j« m convoy the vessels employed in carrying coal from * The coiil amugglors, as they wore styled, had not only dug a huge quantity of cixil, but had coolly taken up their quarters iu the old barraika, where thtiy resided without molestiitiou. I, n^ l-fi PM ill:^: '• till i' ' 1^ ^ 58 THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE. Spanish Eivcr to Halifax for the use of the garrison. On July 21, 1781, sixteen vessels employed in this service, accompanied by a transport having a party of the 70th Ecgiment on board, going to work at the mines, convoyed by the ' Charlestown ' frigate, of twenty-eiglit guns, the sloops ' Allegiance ' and ' Vulture,' of sixteen guns each, and the cutter ' Little Jack,' of six guns, had nearly reached their destination, when they were dis- covered and chased by two French frigates, the 'L'Astree'^ and ' L'llermione,' of forty-four guns each. A smart action commenced at 8 p.^r,, which continued until daik, when the French frigates drew off, taking with them the 'Little Jack.' Owing to the skilful management of Captain Evans, of the ' Charlestown,' who was unfor- tunately killed, the transport and colliers got safely into Spanish Eiver. The frigate and sloops, being greatly crippled in the action, bore up for Halifax.^ So far, as the reader will observe, nothing like a regular mine had been opened in Cape Breton. Nor is this to be wondered at, seeing that the Government persisted in the absurd policy of refusing to grant leases to parties who, with foir encoiu'agement, would have worked the mines efficiently, and sought for markets in the neighbouring colonies. Even when the Government undertook the working of the mines, no regidar system was pursued. Having obtained all that was easily accessible from the face of the cliff at one place, instead of driving a level further into the seam, it was abandoned, and work com- menced at another. That the contraband traders should have followed this system is not surprising, as their works ' The ' L'Astr^e' was commnnded by La Peroiise, the celebrated navijjator, who was lost in 1788 on the l»le of Vanikoro, near ihe New Hebrides. ^ For particulars, see History of Cape Breton, p. iiS'S, by R. Brown : Loudon, 1809. // THE FAIILY HISTORY OF THE COAL TKADE. 59 wore at any time liable to be taken possession of by the Government. Consequently, when they had exhausted any particular seam, and could not pursue it further witli- out some labour, they removed to anotlier, where the coal could be literally shovelled from the outcrop into their boats. Under such circumstances, the reader will not be surprised to learn tluit, after the island had been twenty-two years in tiie undisturbed possession of Great J Britain, and surrounded by colonies requiring large supplies of fuel, the quantity raised in any single year, as tar as we can learn, never exceeded 3,000 chaldrons. •'A -s| -'M GO TIIK EAKLY HISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE. '■>" ill! IN: i I lit f CIIAPTEll VI. THE EARLY iiiSToiiv OF THE COAL TRADE — Continued. (1784 TO 1820.) When the island of Cape Breton was erected into a sepa- rate government in 1784, the first Governor, Lieiit.-Col. Desbarres, who had been employed in making a marine survey of the island, and was well acquainted witli its mineral resources, directed his earnest attention to the working of the coal mines, which, he felt assured, would ]irove ' an inexhaustible source of revenue.' Up to this time all the coal shipped at Spanish Eiver^ had been tnken from the seams cropping out in Lloyd's Cove and Indian Cove ; but Governor Desbarres very judiciously commenced mining operations in the ' Six Feet ' or ' Sydney main coal,' as it is generally called (see Section, p. IG), on the north side of the harbour, where 400 acres of land were reserved for the special use of the works. The order forbidding the granting of land in Cape Breton, issued in 17G3, was revoked when the government was separated from that of Nova Scotia ; but it v/as decided, at a council held at St. James's on August 26, 1784, that ' Whereas it has been represented to us that several parts of our island of Cape Breton have been found to abound in coals, it is our will and pleasure, that in all grants of 1 t ' Governor Desbarres laid the foundations of a town at the head of Spanish Kiver which he called 'Sydney,' after Lord Sydney, at that time Secretary of State for the Colonies. Spanish River, in consequence, took the name of Sydney Hai'bour, by which it is still known. THE EAliLY ITISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE. Gl land to be made by you, a clause be inserted, reserving to us, our heirs and successors, all coals, and also all mines of gold, silver, copper, and lead, which may be discovered in such lands.' Under Desbarres' administration, from 17S4 to 1787 inclusive, the mines were worked on Government account by means of a level driven into the seam from the foot of the cliff, where a wharf was constructed for the shipment of the coal. This wharf was repaired and extended from time to thne, and continued to be used as the place of shipment until the year 1834. Traces of this wharf and the mouth of the level may still be seen. The selling price was eleven shillings and sixpence per ton ; but this left such a small, if any profit to the Government, that Colonel Macormick, who succeeded Desbarres, strongly recommended that the mines should be leased. Accord- ingly, on January 1, 1788, they were leased to Thomas Moxley, who held them until his death in 1791. Coal was sold during Moxley's lease at eleven shillings and sixpence per ton.^ The royalty paid is not given in any of the accounts returned to the }3ritish Government. The revenue derived from the mines, at least the balance remaining, after the Governor had deducted three shillings and sixpence per ton for his own private use, was paid into the treasury of the colony. This perquisite of the Governor was abolished in 1792 by order of the Secre- tary of State for the Colonies. In the month of October 1792, the mines were leased to Messrs. Tremain and Stout for seven years, at a royalty of three shillings per ton, and at the expiration of the ' In the documents in the Record Office the quantities of coal are {riven in chaldrons, and the prices, royalty, &c., in Halifax currency. To render till! returns more intelligible to English readers, the chaldrons are reducc^d to tons of 2,240 lbs. each, and the prices are expressed in sterling money. This must be understood to be the rule in all ca.«es in the text. i. \ 'i. j.lir -^ I 62 THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE. It';' imt }'• : I lease in 1799 they were allowed to go oii as tenants at will, subject to six months' notice. They held the mines until February 5, 1800, upon these terms. To ensure the proper and efficient working of the mines, Sir John Wentworth, the Governor of Nova Scotia, suggested to the Secretary of State, in 1792, that it would be advisable to send out a C(mipetent engineer to inspect the mines, and to construct a stone j)ier at a more convenient place for shipment, as vessels were oft cm detained waiting for their cargoes. Acting upon this suggestion, the British Government, in 1793, sent out Mr. Miller, a mining engineer, who proposed to erect a pier at Indian Cove at an estimated cost of 2,822/. ; but this was not approved by the Government, as it was con- sidered the amount of the coal sales did not justify such an outlay, especially since the lessees of the mines had just rebuilt the old wharf. Mr. Miller held the office of Government Superintendent of the mines until his death in 1799.1 On reference to the Table I. at the end of this cliapter, it will be seen that the sales of coal, trifling as they were in amount, were subject to great fluctuations. Tliis was owing, in a great measure, to the extensive de})redations committed on the coal seams in the cliffs along the coast. In one year more than 700 tons were taken from Cow iiay and other places to the island of St. Pierre alone. On October 11, 1790, the Governor informed the Secre- 1 Mr. Miller was probably the first person who noticed the fossil trees (already mentioned) in the coal measures of Cape Breton. In a private It'Ucr, addressed to Mr. King, the Under Secretary of State, he says : ' I had some thoughts of sending a cask of petrified branches of trees, in part converted into coiil, to my Lord Duke, if I was assured it would be accept- able to his Grace. This phenomenon favours the opinion that coal strata are no other than decayed forests compressed, indurated, and petrified. [ could also send a trunk of a large tree petrified.' THE EARLY IIISTOIIY OF THE COAL TRADE. 03 tary of State that at least three cruisers would be reqifired to stop this illicit traffic. In the course of tliat year, one hired vessel, commanded by Captain Prichard, ca])tured three vessels stealing coal in Cow Bay; three others escaped. In 1795 an ordonnance of Council was pro- mulgated, declaring ' all vessels carrying away coals from tlie cliffs, without authority, liable to forfeiture.' A more marked improvement, however, it will be seen by the tal)le, occurred towards the close of the century, owing probably to the large supi)lies required by the great number of troops in garrison at Halifax during the French war. Much apprehension was felt during the war for the safety of the mines, which could easily have been destroyed by the enemy. A block-house, which is still standing, was erected at the mines ; and two batteries, of four guns each, were constructed — one in li'ont of the block-house, the other on Peck's Head. No attack, fortunately, was made upon the works, which continued to supply the garrisons of Halifax, St. John's, and St. Pierre during the war. Upon the expiration of Tremain and Stout's tenancy in February 1800, the Government took possession of tlie mines and worked them until the end of the followini:^ year, under the management of Mr. Campbell, the Attorney -General of the colony ! It is not stated whetlier his management was successful or not, but it is evident he was satisfied that the mines could be worked with profit, as he took them upon a lease of seven years under a royalty of four sliillings per ton, stipulating, at tlie same time, to sell the coal at ten shillings and threepence per ton. This, however, does not appear to have an- swered his expectations, as he applied in 1803 for a reduction of one shilling and sixpence per ton on the r(walty, but failing to obtain it, he wot only stopped paying >. K ' |-v! m n •:0 i*'*' rr 04 tut: karly history of tih-: coal tradic. 'I''; m \h Di' i1i the royalty, but contested several points in liis lease, and gave so much trouble, that the Governor recom- mended the Secretary of State either to cancel the lease or call upon Mr. Campbell to resign Jiis office of Attorney- General. In the month of May following Campbell surrendered his lease, when the Government again resumed possession, and worked them for several years ; not, however, with much success, as we find General Kepean, the Governor, complaining to Lord Liverpool in 1810, that from June 1808, to September 1810, the mines had only realised a profit of tenpence per ton upon a sale of 10,890 tons. This is not surprising, considering that five officers were employed in the management of such a small business, at a cost of 510/. per annum, viz. : Superintendent Agent and shipping officer Medical officer Harbour Master Collector of accounts Totiil £ 100 225 1C)0 being thirteen per cent, on the gross amount of the sales in 1810. An attempt was made in 1811 to lease the mines to Messrs. Jonathan and John Tremain of Halifax, who offered to take them for twenty-one years at a royalty of two shillings and one penny per ton. Finding, upon more careful enquiry, that the working charges were much greater than they expected, the Messrs. Tremains withdrew their offer, and the Government was compelled to go on working the mines on their own account ; but with such small success, that the new Governor, General Swayne, reported to Lord Bathurst in January 1813, tliat the finances of the colony were reduced to the lowest ebb, and that the coal mines, which were the THE EARLY mSTORY OF THE COAL TRADE, 65 only source of revenue, were "n a state of bankruptcy. In tlie course of the year 1813 Messrs. Eitchie and T. Leaver took a lease of the mines at a royaltj'^ of three shillings and eightpence per ton, which they held until January 31, 1818, when, liaving got into difliculties, they were obliged to transfer their interest in the mines to their assignees, Messrs. G. W. 13own and J. Leaver, v.'ho held them until the expiration of the lease in December 1820. As it was generally expected at this time that the island of Cape Breton would soon be annexed !o the government of Nova Scotia, the acting Governor, Captain Stewart, considered it advisable, upon tlie termination of the last lease, to renew it only for one year to G. W. Bown at a royalty of three shillings and sixpence per ton. The island of Cape Breton having, by an order of the King in Council, in the year 1820, been annexed to the government of Nova Scotia and constituted a county of that province, under the name of the ' County of Cape Breton,' Sir James Kempt, the Governor of Nova Scotia, in the autumn of the same year, visited the island, with the object of making himself acquainted with its wants and resources. He seems to have devoted his special atten- tion to the coal mines, concerning which he stated, in his report to Lord Bathurst, that the average sales for several years had been about 8,000 tons, and that, in any one year, they had never exceeded 10,000 tons, yielding a revenue of £1,400 to £1,600 per annum to the G( - vernment. He found fifty- two men employed at the mines, and estimated, from the best information he could get, that the cost of raising and shipping the coal was about seven shillings and sixpence per ton. Mr. G. W. Bown's lease having expired. Sir James Kempt let the mines to Messrs. T. S. and W. E. Bown for a term of five m i 06 TTIK Iv\l{r,Y TlISTOTfY OF TTIK (X)AL TRADE. I 3'^ I IE' I, I 1. ■ ( I 1^ ! Ji!' years from January 1, 1822, at a royalty of four sliilliiifis and three pence per ton, stipulating that the lessees should kee]) the works iu elheient condition to meet the demand, and that they should not sell at a higher rate tlian thirteen tihillings and twopence per ton. Table I., at tlic end of this chapter, shows the quantity of coal sold hi each year, from tiie opening of the mines in 1785 to the close of 182G, when they came into the possession of the General Mining Association ; the prices at which the coal was sold, and the rate of royalty per ton when they were worked under lease. Owing to the absence of regular returns in the liecord Office, the table is not quite complete, but tlie shipments in the years 1823-24 and 25, which are missing, probably did not vary much from tlios(> of the three years preceding. It will be observed, by I'efereiice to the table, that the sales did not increase much until the year 1799, and that they showed but sliglit improvement from that time up to the end of 182G. Even within those narrow limits the fluc- tuations were considerable, the sales in one year — as, for instance, in 1805 — behig sometimes nearly twice as large as in tiie year preceding. There is every reason to believe that these fluctuations were due, in a great measure, to the quantity of coal stolen in some years from the cliffs, as it was found that, whenever the Government withdrew the cruising vessels, this illicit traffic was car- ried on to a great extent. Governor Ainslie reported, in February 1819, that, after dispensing with the services of the schooner ' Eclipse,' in the previous year, the quantity of coal stolen from the clifTs exceeded 2,000 tons. It might reasonably have been expected that, in the course of forty years, the sales would have reached a higher figure than 10,000 tons, especially since the rapidly growing cities of the United States at that time derived THE KAKLY IIISTOltY OF THE COAL TItADE. 07 their whole supply of bituminous coal from Great Britain and tlie Virginia mines,* but it does not appear that more than an occasional cargo v/as sent from Sydney to New York or Boston. The small demand for Sydney coal in the United States may, however, easily be accounted for on other gi-ounds. The coal was sent to market in such bad condition that it could not iind purchasers so long as a plentifid supply of English coal, carefully screened, and even hand-jnckcd, was in the market. At the Sydney mines no pains were taken to separate the largo from the small coal ; the colliers, who were not skilled workmen, had no inducement to make as much large as possible, being paid at the same rate per chaldron for small as for large ; and it was so much tossed about and trampled upon in its way from the pits, subject to not less than four lifts before it was stowed in the ship's hold, that it was little better than mere slack. Under these circum- stances it is not surprising that Sydney coal did not sell readily in the United States. The lessees of the mines, it must be admitted, were less to blame for this state of things than the Government, which persisted in granting only short leases at exorbitant rates of royalty. It could not be expected that men of capital would employ their money in an undertaking of magnitude under a lease of five or seven years ; and it is equally certain that, without capital, the mines could not be worked with profit. An intelligent foreigner, the Abbe Eaynal, in his * History of the Conmierce of the West Indies,' had pointed this out, so far back as the year 1781, when he asserted that nothing but capital was wanted to open the mines of Cape Breton, and make them sources of profit both to tlie y I, .■>,M ^ The anthracite of Pennsylvania had not, at thif period, come into use ; the first cargo of i505 tons was oftered for sale in New York in the year 1820. f3 G8 TTIE EAm.Y ITTSTORY OF TTTE COAL TRADE. S»4 m^. colony and the adventurers, as an advantageous mart would be found in the islands and on the continent of America, where the dearness of wood was already ex- perienced. It will be seen, in the nex' chapter, that the mines, after struggling through many difficulties, fell at length into the hands of parties provided with ample capital, and that, under the guarantee of a long least;, they have, as foretold by Eaynal, proved a source of profit both to the colony and the adventurers. Before we close this chapter the reader, perhaps, will peruse with some interest a short account of the system upon which the works were conducted in the early days of mining in Cape Breton — -a system which happily has been long abandoned — as it will enable him to compare it with that which now generally prevails, to the manifest advantage both of the lessees and their employes. The Sydney main seam was first opened in 1785 by driving an adit from the shore near the old wharf.^ This adit, as it proceeded along the strike of the seam, drained all the coal lying between high- water level and t^ie out- crop — -a belt about one mile in length, with an average width of 200 yards. As the workings advanced from the shore in a westerly direction, new shafts were sunk at intervals of about 200 yards, so that the length of haulage from the faces of the bords to the bottom of the shaft never exceeded that distance. The bords, or rooms, were intended to be six yards wide, separated by pillars of four yards, driven parallel with the adit or level; but this pai-allelism was rarely maintained, and it was not unusual to find the bords seven or eight yards, and the pillars only two or three yards, wide. As a natural consequence, tlie pillars, being too weak to bear the weight of the I ' The sitfl of the old wharf is marked Oii the map, and also on the sectionfil view i)f the north-west shore of iSyduey harbour, at the end of the hocL. THE EARLY IIISTOTIY OF THE COAL TRADE. 69 ff,.' I superincumbent strata, were crushed in and entirely lost ; whereas, if they had been left sufficiently strong, at least tliree-fourths of the coal which they contained might have been saved. The coal was worked by ' holing ' across the bord in the middle, 'sheering' the sides, and breaking it down by wedging. As no separation of large and small was made, the same price being paid for the whole, tlie colliers had no interest in making as much large coal as possible, so that before it left the face of the bord the })roportion of large coal obtained did not amount to two- thkdf of the whole.^ The coal was hauled in ' two- bushel ' tubs, upon small iron-sliod sledges, over a road- way formed of round poles two to three inches in diameter, laid transversely, close together, by strong, active young men, who were paid at a certain price per tub. Upon reaching the bottom of the shaft three of these tubs were emptied into a large tub which was raised to the surface, a height of about ninety feet, by a double-horse gin. At the top of the shaft the large tub was emptied into a shoot or hopper, from which the coal was discharged into carts containing twelve bushels. If a vessel happened to be loading at the time, the carts were driven over a rough, shaky road, formed of round poles three or four inches in diameter, laid close together — the ' Corduroy Eoad ' of the colonies — to the wharf, where their contents were discharged into the vessel. When no vessel was loading, and also in winter, when the navigation was closed, the coals were deposited in a largo heap near the wharf, over which the carts were dragged. ' The worliiren were mostly young Irishmen who had Loen employed in the Newfoundliind Hsheries. Having earned enough for their purposes, some purchased crown land in Cape Breton, others proceeded to the United Statt's, but very few niainod any length of time at the mines,, There wore, consequently, very few skilled colliers regularly employed at tho mines. :^>m .1 -.■&.i ''III ^3 m ■f'*a I m %'tV -vrsa Il' ' ' iiiilii 70 THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE. As sometimes 3,000 to 4,000 tons were accumulated in one heap ready for shipment, it may easily be conceived that, after undergoing so many removals, with a final crushing by the horses and carts, the coal was reduced almost wholly to slack before it reached the vessel. Besides, as vessels drawing more than nine or ten feet could not load at the wharf, they had to anchor in the stream, and receive their cargoes from lighters, by which means the coal was still further damaged. Taking all these things into consideration, it is not surprising that Sydney coal could not find a ready market. All the workmen of the establishment, consisting of overmen, mechanics, colliers, haulers, and labourers, in addition to their wages, whether by the day or by con- tract, were allowed rations of b(;ef, pork, bread, and molasses, which were given out weekly. If a man was absent from his work, of course he had to pay for liis rations ; but whether a man worked faithfully or not, he received the same allowances, thus placing the industrious and skilful men on the same level as the idle and iuno- rant. The working lime, both in the pit and on the surface, extended from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., with an allowance of one hour for breakfast at 9 a.m., and the same for dinner at 1 p.m. All hands, being sunuuoned to breakftist by ringing of the bell, abandoned their work and rushed to th'^ store, whence each, having swall(iwed a glass of raw rum, went to his breakfast. Tlie same process was repeated with regard to dinner, and again at 7 p.:\r.,wlien the day's work was done. Some of the men were engaged for four, others for twelve months, commencing on January 1. There were only two pay-days in tliC year — one for the foiu'-months' men, on May 1, the other for the twelve-months' men, on December 31. As the men, in the meantime, were not furnished with any THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE. 71 nccoiints of their wages or purchases at the store, they generally found, at the final settlement, that, after paying for clothing, stores, ruin, &c., they had very small balances to receive. We need not wonder that, under this system, the lessees, as has often been asserted, made more profit by the sale of their stores tlian of their coal. All the men, except the two overmen and four mechanics, lived in two barracks or cook-rooms (as they were called), where they took their meals and slept in the same apartments. Their sleeping bertlis were ranged along the sides of the two rooms in tiers, one above another, as in a ship. It may easily be imagined what isort of a place the cook-room was, wliere forty men ate, slept, and washed — when tliey did wash, wdiicli was only once a Aveek — in a single apartment. In winter, it is true, they had abundant means of making it warm enoiigli, wliich is about all that can be said in its favour ; ill summer it became so very lively that most of the men [)refeiTed slee})ing during the fine weather under the spruce trees in the vicinity. It coidd hardly be expected that either harmony or good order prevailed in two rooms occupied by eighty or ninety men under such conditions, where all were upon equal terms and free from restraint. Brawlinn; and fiohtin" seemed to be the order, or rather the disorder, of the day, from Monday until Sn.turday, Sunday being tmly a day of rest, wliicli, strange to say, was devoutly observed. The writer, wlio had the misfortune to occupy i. lOuse for more tlian twelve months about 100 yards from the cook-nK^ms, can testify that he rarely enjoyed an undisturbed night's rest (luring the whole of that period. Neither did the external aspect of the establishment in any way counterbalance its moral deficiencies. No iiii- provements had been made upon the 400 acies of excil- > th > • V 'A II Mi .'ir! riiP M I ; '^ ii^iiu I. 72 THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE COAL TRADE, lent land belonging to the mines; the roads were scarcely passable, and of houses there were none, except the workmen's barracks, half-a-dozen log and sod huts occupied by the overmen and mechanics, a couple of storehouses, and an old framed house,^ perfectly inno- cent of paint, belonging to the managing lessee of the mines. There was neither a school-house nor place of worship, except a small Eoman Catholic chapel in the vicinit)', where the priest from Sydney officiated once, or perhaps twice, in the course of a year. Such was the dilapidated condition of the Sydney mines when tliey came into the possession of the present lessees on January 1, 1827. All that had been done was worse than useless, as the property, instead of being improved, was seriously damaged. About seventy-live acres of the main seam had been worked out, leaving the pillars behind, which, owing to the settling of the roof, could not be recovered. To show the wasteful, reckless way in which the works liad been conducted, it need only be stated tliat from seventy-five acres of a six-feet seam, which ought at least to have yielded 500,000, only 275,000 tons had been raised since the mine was commenced in 1785. u # I %'^ r. i iH^WJI ^ This house was built over some old -workinps w^ich had settled down and thrown the floor so far out of level that oue side of the sitting-room was two feet below the other. When the Government superintendent of the mines, an old naval otilcer, used to make his visit of inspection, his first remark generally was; * Well Mr. i^., I see you are still carrying top-gallant sail ; recollect there is a heavy gro md swell j take care you don't come to grief one of these days ! ' ilL.,: THE EAllLY HISTORY OT THE COAL TRADE. 73 Tawle I. — Coal Sales at Sydney, from 1785 to 1826, inclusive. Year. Tons sold. ' Selling price Royalty per per Ton Ton Names of Lessees Remarks s. d. i. u. 1785 1068 11 6 Nil Worked by Government 1780 No rot urn do. do. do. 1787 '' 9 8 do. do. 1 No .separate returns 1788 11 Not stilted T. Moxley given from 1787 1789 . 13351 do. do. do. > ;. 791 inclusive. 17'J0 do. do. do. Average i.s 2,600 1791 do. do. do. J per annum 1792 2143 Not stilted 3 Treniaiu and Stout 1793 1926 do. do. do. 1791 4405 do. do. do. 179.3 5320 do. do. do. 1 Including 911 tons from cliff's 1796 5249 do. do. do. do. 995 tons do. 1797 6039 do. do. do. 1798 5948 do. do. do. 1799 8947 do. do. do. 1800 8401 do. Nil Worked bvGovornment 1801 5775 do. do. do. 1802 7769 10 3 4 Wm. Campbell 1803 6601 do. do. do. 1804 5976 do. Nil Worked by Government 180o 10130 do. do. do. 1806 4938 do. do. do. 1807 5119 do. do. do. 1808 6616 do. do. do. WithSesfromclifs 1809 8919 do. do. do. 1810 8009 do. do. do. With 170 from cliffs 1811 8516 do. do. do. 1812 9570 do. do. do. 1813 9744 13 2 3 8 Ritchie & Leaver 1814 9866 do. do. do. 1810 9336 do. do. do. 1816 8619 do. do. do. 1817 9284 do. do. do. 1818 7920 do. do. G.W.Bown& J. Leaver 1819 8692 do. do. do. 1820 9980 do. do. do. 1821 11388 do. 3 6 G. W. Bown 11822 7512. do. 4 3 T. S. & W. 11. Bown 1 ,1823 1824 » do. do. do. do. do. do. No returns for these three years. Pro- 111 1 11820 1 If do. do. do. biibly averaged about 9,000 tons 1826 i lf!600 do. do. do. ,' »i\i I mi m !'-,%) 'i?!![| 74 OPEIJATIONS OF GENEltAL xMINlNO ASSUCLVTION IN I WE' I ' 1 CIIAPTEK ML OPIUJATIONS OF THE GENERAL MINING ASSOCIATION IN CAl'E UIJETON, FROM 1827 TO 1857, inclusive. Some few of the readers of these pn^^es may, perliaps, be old enough to recollect tliat (.)ne of the prominent events of the year 1825 was a mania for embarking in mining speculations, and tliat a number of Joint Stock Companies were formed for working mines of all kinds, but chielly gold and silver, in North and South America, in tlie sanguine expectation of realising large profits by their operations. One of these companies, styled the General IMining Assocnation, organised by Messi's. Run- dell, Bridge & Eundell, the late well-known linn of jewellers and goldsmiths, purchased, not oidy extensive mining tracts in Brazil and Colombia, but also a lease of all the inines and minerals of the province of Nova Scotia, which Geoi'ge IV., by an act of the royal prerogative, had granted to his brother, the late Duke of York. Frequent rumours had, from time to time, reached England of the existence of rich veins of copper ore in Nova Scotia, which probably induced the duke to apj)]y for a lease, in the hope thereby of repairing his damaged fortunes. At all events, the duke obtained a lease for sixty years of all tlie reserved mines, with certain exceptions, wliich will shortly be specified, and transferred it to Alessrs. Eundell, Bridge & Co., upon their agreeing to pay over to him a certain share of the profits which should accrue from year to year. By tliis prudent arrangement the Duke of York, It. CAPE BIJKTON, FliOM 1827 TO 18.", INCLUSIVE. 75 wlio had not the means of working the mnies on liis own account, secured for himself a share of tlie profits without the risk of incurring any loss whatever. Having completed their arrangements with the Duke of York in 1825, Messrs. Eundell & Co., or ratiier the Gene- ral Mining Association, sent out Mr. Backwell, a Cornish mining engineer, to examine and report upon the veins of coi)per whicli, as it turned out, had acquired for Nova Scotia an undeserved reputation for great wealth in that minernl. Mr. Backwell spent a summer in examining every known deposit of co})per in the province, but did not succeed in finding any worth working. Small pieces of native copper were found in the trap rocks of Cape D'Or, in tlie Bay of Fundy, and some trilling deposits of the grey sulphuret of copper in the sandstones of the coal formation, on the shores of Northumberland Strait, but nowhere in suilicient quantity to make them of economical importance. In the course of his explorations Mr. liack- well collected some useful information concernino; the coal-fields of the province, and reported to the Directors of the General Mining Association that, in his opinion, tliey would do well to abandon their search for copper, and devote their immediate attention to the opening of the coal mines. Disappointed in their expectation respecting the value of the copper veins, the Directors, acting upon Mr. Back- well's suggestion, in the spring of 1826 sent out the writer of these pages specially to survey and report upon the coal- fields of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, hi the progress of this survey it was found that in the coal-fields of Pictou and Sydney, the best seams of coal in the jn-ovince were already leased and worked by other parties, and, conse- * The leasn from the Crown to the Diiko of York was not executed until Au;:ust 'J'>, 18:20; it will expire ou August 1", 1886. ■ i V. m] m h I- ■ I fl ■ ' liiiii- WW ii Mia ipf! mi w" 7G OPEKATIUNS OF UEXEIiAL MINING ASSOCIATION IN quently, tliey were not iiicludcd in the Duke of York's lease, which did not cover any mines tliat were under lease at tlie tune of its ratification. Fortunately for the General Mining Association, Messrs. T. S. & W. E. Bown, whose lease of the Sydney mines would expire on the olst December, 182G (see p. CO), were not disposed to renew their tenancy at sucli a high rate of royalty as they hitherto had paid (four shillings and three pence per ton), because nearly all that portion of the seam which was drained by a level was nearly exhausted, and it would bo necessary to erect costly pumping machinery. Sir James Kempt being apprehensive that, under these circumstances, there would be a diinculty in leasing the mines, and that the revenue of the province would suffer accordingly, in- timated to the writer, that if the General Mining Associa- tion would work the mines for one year on the terms then in force, perhaps, in the course of that time some other arrangement might be made for a longer lease upon more favourable conditions. This offer was readily accepted, and, in consequence, the Sydney mines — beyond all doubt the most valuable in Cape Breton — came imto the posses- sion of the General Mining Association on the 1st January, 1827.1 When the Duke of York transferred his lease to the General Mining Association, the latter, of course, became liable for the rents, royalties, &c., under which it was held, and bound to conform to its various stipulations. According to the lease, the royalty payable on coal was one shilling sterling per ton ; but when the General Mining Association, in 1828, by agreement with the Provincial Government, obtained a lease of the Sydney ' lu the course of the following year the General Mining Association pur- cluisod the letise of the Pictou (Albion) mines from the parties who then held them, and thus became exclusive tenants of all the mines and minerals belonging to the Crown in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, CAPE BHETOX, Fl^O.M 1827 TO ]Rr,7, INCLUSIVE. 77 and Pictoii, or reserved mines, upon wliich the duke had no chum, terminable in 188G, it was agreed, by all the parties concerned, that the General Mining Association, u[)on payment of a fixed rent of 3,000/. sterling a year, should be allowed to sell 20,000 chaldron, Newcastle measure, in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, and that they should pay two shillings Halifax currency (equal to one shilling and sevenpence sterling) per Newcastle chaldron upon all the coal sold over that quantity. By this arrange- ment the rate of royalty paid under the duke's lease was set aside, and an uniform rate established for all the coal raised, whether from mines held under the duke's lease, or from the reserved mines at Pictou and Sydney. This arrangement, however, did not interfere with the terms of tlie agreement under which the Duke of York, or rather his representatives, were entitled to receive one-fourtli of tlie net profits accruing from the working of tlie mines. The rents and royalty above specified were paid until the year 1845, when the British Government consented to allow the Association to sell 20,000 instead of 20,000 chaldrons, Newcastle measure, for the fixed rent of 3,000/. per annum : but, as a set ofF-against this privilege, it Avas stipulated that small coal should also pay royalty, from which, under the former agreement, it had been exempt. Tins last agreement continued in force until December 31, 1857, when the General Mining Association surrendered tlieir claim to all the mines and minerals except coal within certain defined limits, as will be explained in a future chapter. Having obtained undisputed possession of all the coal- fields in Cape Breton in 1827, the General Mining Asso- ciation immediately took the necessary steps for ascertaining the most suitable locality for estabhshing their works upon a large scale. After a careful examination of the qualities and situations of the various seams, it was finally decided tXra'' - r :* ' - * ,4 J ,- i- .ill! l*M i i 19 silt U ' m 7(S OPKIJATIONS OF (JKNETfAT. -AflNIXd ASSOCIATION IX that the Sydney ' Six Feet,' or ' Main Seam,'^ whicli liad been worked by the former lessees, as ah'eady stated, was in every respect the most suitable, takinj^ into considera- tion its superior quality as a domestic fuel, and its situation on the shores of one of the best liarbours in North Ame- rica. As it would tidce some time to erect machinery, siid< sliafts, and construct a railway to a convenient place of shipment, it was determined to contiiuie the working of the small portion of the seam still available above water level, whicli, it was calculated, would, in the mean- time, supply about 10,000 tons per anmnn for two or three years ; and, to enable the Association to meet the demand which it was expected would arise in the United States when the coal was shipped in good condition, to open an auxiliary colliery, upon a small scale, on the south side of Indian Bay, in the riielau seam.^ The following extracts from a report recently made by Mr. Henry How, Professor of Chemistry, at King's College, Windsor, on the analysis of average samples taken from all parts of the seam, will clearly [)rove that the high character which the Sydney coal has long enjoyed, both as a domestic fuel and as a steam coal, lias been justly acquired : — Conijwsiiion of Average Samples of the whole Seam of Coal. By Medium Coking. Moisture ..... Volatile combustible matter . Fixed carbon .... Ash (reddish brown) Coke, per cent. .... Theoretical evaporative power 301 .'U-J-1 Gl-50 4-32 100-00 G5\S2 8-15 lbs. iitrijisfr'' ^ The situation and extent of this seam will be seen on the map of the coal-field ; its position in the Sydney series in the tabulated section at p. 16. '^ This was called the Bridgeport Wine. See map of the coal-field, and section at p. 24. ,;:;!. ; 0-23 Chlorine, traces .... • - 100-00 The details given above explain the well-known high favour in which this coal has been held for upwards of forty years ^ for domestic use, and also for steam-pro- ducing by those who have employed it carefully. ' Prof. How's analysis wa.9 made in January 1871. '■ <^ I I I 1 J' I > ' f •• I 1 m * ii .~M l«*i IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 2.2 ■ii iili £ Si Ui liS 1 2.0 ,M 1.4 11.6 V] %. ^ > /: ^'^ ^^> y >^ \ >t«:r. if:;: m 'fill ■Ah ,J,.!Si -U-. ')r il^l^ 80 OPERATIONS OF GEXEIIAL MINING ASSOCIATION IN * The mean theoretical evaporative power, or number of pounds of boiling water which should be evaporated by one pound of coal, 8*49, compares very favourably with the actual power of .British coals, as found in the Navy Trials in which I assisted ; these were : — Average of 37 samples from "Wales . 9-05 lbs » 17 » Newcastle 8-37 . » 28 » Lancashire . 7-94 8 » Scotland 7-70 8 » Derbyshire . 7-o8 This fact alone would always have been significant as indicating that the Sydney coal should prove a good steam coal ; but since late experiments have shown that, when burnt in proper furnaces, the bituminous coals have been found to give no smoke, and to have an evaporative power even superior to that of Welsh steam-coals, it is now of the highest importance. It is necessary to draw attention in this connection to the resemblance of the Sydney coal to those bituminous coals which gave these results, in containing a low per-centage of asli.' Although rather out of place in chronological order, it may be as well, to avoid the necessity of recurring to the subject, to submit some further remarks on the character of the Sydney cpal. It must, however, be borne in mind that the coal which obtained the high character attached to it, was raised from a considerable depth, and shipped in good condition, very different in every respect from that sent to market previous to the year 1827. It possesses many valuable properties as a domestic fuel, igniting readily, burning freely, and making a bright cheerful fire. The ashes are small in quantity, and being comparatively heavy, settle under the grate, thereby leaving a clean tidy hearth in front of the fire. Before anthracite came into such general use in the United States, CAPE BRETON, FROM 1827 TO 1857, INCLUSIVE. 81 when bituminous coal was largely imported, it is said to have been a common practice among the coal-dealers to dispose of Sydney coal to their customers under the name of Liverpool orrell — a favourite fuel at that time in New York and Boston. Its good qualities have been long recognised in the British provinces, where it is generally used, and readily sells at from two to three shillings per ton higher than any other provincial coal. It has long been used by the garrison at Halifax, and is the only coal the Commissariat officers will receive in the fuel-yard, though, it is said, they have been urgently pressed, by persons interested in other mines, to accept tenders for their coals at lower rates. The Sydney coal has maintained a deservedly high reputation as a steam coal ever since it was first used for that purpose, and favourably reported upon by Com- mander Nott, of her Majesty's steam sloop the ' Dee,' which took in a supply on her voyage from England to Quebec during the Canadian outbreak in 1838. Before tlie steamers of the Cunard Line discontinued calling at Halifax, about three years ago, they were furnished with supplies of Sydney coal both on their outward and home- ward voyages. It is still used by the mail steamers running from Halifax to Bermuda and the West Indies, and also by the French steamers on the Newfoundland station. In 1860 a cargo was shipped direct from Sydney to Brest, for trial by the Director of Naval Construction at that port, who reported to the Minister of Marine ' that in steam power it was little inferior to the Cardiff and quite equal to the Newcastle coal.' The British ships of war engaged in protecting the fisheries, and casu'd vessels bound to Canada and the West Indies, occasionally touch at Sydney for supplies of coal. Some years ago stores of Sydney coal were deposited in the dockyard at Halifax IT 82 OPERATIONS OF GENERAL MINING ASSOCIATION IN for the service of ships of war on the North American station, but the practice was discontinued, and Welsh coal was imported to supply its place, because it win alleged that the latter possessed greater evaporative power than the Sydney, in the proportion of 9 to 7 ; and also that the dense black smoke emitted by Sydney coal during combustion, not only discovered the ship's place to an enemy at a great distance, but also damaged the sails and discoloured the paint. Admitting these objections to be substantial during the time of war, they ought to be disregarded in times of peace, when ships of war can be supplied at Halifax with Sydney coal at thirteen shillings per ton, while, on the contrary, Welsh coal costs at least thirty shillings. But even these objections, trifling as they are, have now been set aside by the introduction of furnaces whicli consume the smoke ; and, as has been proved by a series of experiments made on board her Majesty's steamers 'Urgent 'and 'Lucifer,' at Portsmouth, by using equal proportions of Welsh and Newcastle coals, mixed together, a saving of 14^ per cent, is made in the consumption of fuel, and 7^ per cent, gained in the efiec- tive horse-power of the engines. Since the Sydney and Newcastle coals are so much alike in their constituents and general characteristics,^ a mixture of Sydney and Welsh coal Vvould undoubtedly produce the same results ; and it is therefore hoped the Admiralty will send out ' It will be seen by comparing the composition of Sydney coal (taking the average of slow, medium, and fast coking) with that of the Hartley, used on board the * Urgent ' and ' Lucifer ' in the above trials, that their resemblance is very striking, the slight difference in the excess of fixed carbon in the Sydney being in its favour as a steam coal : — , Volatile matter, water included Fixed carbon 'Ash Sydney, 33-82 Hartley. 3616 61-86 59-32 432 4-52 100-00 100-00 CAPE BRETON, FROM 1827 TO 1857, INCLUSIVE. 83 instructions to the officers on the North American sta- tion to use it, if not altogether, at any rate mixed with Welsh in equal proportions, to the great rehef of British taxpayers. The General Mining Association, as stated at page 77, obtained possession of the Sydney mines in 1827, for one year certain ; but, as the arrangement made in 1828 for an extension of the lease was not completed until the following year, no active steps were taken for opening out the works until the beginning of 1830. The first shaft (marked ' a ' on the map) was sunk 250 yards to tlie dip of the old workings, where it struck the coal- seam at a depth of 200 feet from the surface. An engine of 30 horse-power was also erected for raising coal, and another of 20 horse-power for pumping water. Work- shops, warehouses, and dwelling-houses were also built, and a number of skilled workmen and colliers brought out from England to carry on the works on the most improved system. To supersede horses and carts a light temporary railway was constructed from the pit to the old wharf, pending the completion of a substantial hne to a secure place of shipment inside the bar, sheltered from the north-east swell to wliich the outer harbour is ex- posed. Small coasting vessels continued to load at the old v,-harf, but large vessels were loaded by means of schooner lighters, carrying about 60 tons each, at a secure place of shipment some distance up the harbour. To carry on the works with success, and to place them be- yond the diasastrous effects of an accident to the steam- engines, an iron foundry, witli fitting shops, lathes, and everything necessary for repairing all kinds of mining machinery, was erected on the spot, as there was at that time no place, within a distance of 800 miles, where such repairs could be efficiently made. G 2 ,^'V * 84 OPERATIONS OF OENEKAL MINTNO AS'SOCIATTON IN As the trade increased it was found necessary, in 1834, to sink another shaft (marked ' b ' on the map) 400 yards farther to the dip. This shaft was 320 feet in depth, and was equipped with a pumping engine of 80 and a winding engine of 30 horse-power. During the same year the railway, three miles in length, was completed from the pits to North Sydney {.see map), ■where vessels of lar^e burden have ever since received their cargoes with safety and despatch direct from the pit. This pit (the * b ') continued to supply the demand until 1854, when, owing to a heavy influx of water, which overpowered the pumping engine, it was aban- doned, and the Queen, or ' c' pit (see map), which had been previously sunk and equipped in anticipation of such a misfortune, was brought into operation. All the pillars had, before this happened, been taken out of the * a ' pit, but there was a considerable portion still re- maining in the ' b ' pit when it was lost. The great body of water in the ' b ' pit workings is effectually prevented from communicating with those to the dip by a barrier rib of solid coal 150 feet in width. The Queen, or ' c ' pit, is 400 feet in depth. It is worked by a pumping engine of 150 and a winding engine of 60 horse-power. All the whole coal has been worked to tlie rise of the shaft, except a few acres near the harbour shore. The greatest part, also, of the whole coal, to the extent of 1,000 yards to the dip of the shaft, has been worked ; from this part of the mine the coal is drawn up inclined planes by two underground engines, of 30 horse-power each, supplied with steam by boilers on the surface. A portion of the pillars has been worked in this part of the mine ; in the course of a few years the whole will be removed, and at the same time, pro- CAPE BRETON, FltOM 1827 TO 1857, INCLUSIVE. 85 bably, some of those now under water in the * b ' pit will be recovered. All the coal now shipped from the Sydney mines is raised from the Queen pit, which is capable of supplying 150,000 tons per annum. It is conveyed by railway to the shipping wharves at North Sydney (see map). Locomotives were first employed in 1854, horses having been previously used in hauling the coal. The annexed diagram shows the position and depth of the several shafts sunk at the Sydney mines since 1827 in section : — Sea Old Works, a Pit bPit Quten, or c Pit New Winning Level, ■■■ ( The new shafts now in progress of sinking at the ' new winning,' 1,000 yards farther to the dip, will be described in a future chapter when the operations subse- quent to the year 1857 claim our attention. The Lloyd's Cove and Indian Cove seams were worked by the French for the supply of Louisbourg, and sub- sequently by the British Government for the use of the troops at Halifax. They have also been worked by the General Mining Association to a small extent, but, owing to their inferior quality, have been some time abandoned. The Bridgeport mines,, situated on the southern shore of Indian Bay, were first opened by the General Mining Association in 1830, when a level was driven from the outcrop along the strike of the sea*^^ , now known as the * Phelan seam ' [see map of the coal-field and section at page 25). As the level proceeded to the southward pits were smik at intervals of about a quarter of a mile, ,i )>,- m m'. fu 86 OPERATIONS OF GENERAL MINING ASSOCIATION IN from which the coal was raised by horse-gins. At the face of the chff the seam consisted of an upper bed, three feet in thickness, "nd a lower bed, live feet three inches in thickness, separated by a four-inch layer of shale ; but, as the level advanced, the layer of shale gradually in- creased, until, at the distance of half-a-mile from the shore, it attained a thickness of twenty-eight feet. Beyond this point it rapidly declined, and at a trial bore-hole, 300 yards to the dip of the level, it was found to be only fourteen inclies thick, the upper bed of coal being three feet and a half and the lower six feet in thickness. Qn the first instance the coal was brought out of the level and boated off to vessels at anchor in the open bay, bnt in 18B»3 a light railway, two miles in length, was laid from the pit along the sand-beach to the harbour, which was adapted only for vessels drawing eleven feet of water when loaded.^' The Bridgeport is a good domestic fuel, but not equal to the Sydney coal ; on the other hand it is more valuable as a gas-coal, yielding nearly 10,000 cubic feet of gas per ton. Its constituents by analysis are— - Volatilo matter Fixed carbon . Ash 33-20 61-39 5-41 100-00 Owing to a great decline in the demand for this coal in 1841 and 1842 the mine was closed in the latter year, but the whole of the coal on the banks was not disposed of for some time afterwards. The railway materials and moveable plant were transferred to the Sydney mines. The Lingan mines^ situated on the northern shore of Indian Bay {see map), were first opened by the General Mining Association in 1855, when it was expected that, CAPE BRETON, FROM 1827 TO 1857, INCLUSIVE. 87 owing to the removal of the duty upon coal in the United States under tlie provisions of the Reciprocity Treaty, a considerable demand would arise for Lingan coal, which liad been found very suitable for the manufacture of gas. Its su[)erior quality as a smith's coal had long been known, and, as the seam cropped out in the face of the cliff in a conspicuous position, it had attracted the attention of the coal smugglers at a very early period. The seam, marked >T(). 6 in the tabular section, p. 32, is eight feet six inches in tliickness, and is supposed to be a continuation of the Bridgeport or Phelan seam. The colliery was first opened by driving an adit from the shore on the strike of the sf i m, a distance of about half-a-mile, when it was intersected by a slope driven from the outcrop of the coal, where an engine of 30 horse-power was erected for drawing the coal up the slope and pumping the water from the work- ings to the dip of the adit. The seam has been worked on both sides of the slope, which has recently been con- tinued downwards under the sea, where the best coal is found, in quantity practically illimitable. The coal is conveyed by railway, something less than a mile in length, to the harbour, which is navigable by vessels drawing foiu-teen feet of water. The Lingan coal has been used to a considerajle extent in the United States for gas manufacture. According to the report of the engineer of the New York Gas Company, it yields 9,600 cubic feet of gas per ton. The annexed extracts from an analysis recently made by Professor How, of King's College, Nova Scotia, will show that it is equally well adapted for other useful purposes : — ii W km ill M f Is; ml t i h'il- 88 OPERATIONS OF GENERAL MINING ASSOCIATION IN By Medium Coking. Moisture ...... n-17 Volatile cornbustiblo matter . . io-Hf; Fixed Carbon . ... . or.-iii Ash 3-u<; lOOOO Theoretical evaporative power y'07 lbs. By Slow Coking. ToUil volatile matters .... . 25-4;> Coke ....... . 74'57 100 00 Theoretical evaporative power By Fast Coking. 9-81 \hA. Total volatile matters 33-70 Coke 6G-30 100-00 Theoretical evaporative power 8-71 lbs. Mean theoretical evai)orativc power 91 9 lbs. Prejudicial sulphur per cent. -710 Specific gravity „ ... 1-282 Weight of one cubic foot, unbroken 79-95 lbs. „ „ broken . 53-56 „ Economic weight, or space for stowage of one ton of 2,240 lbs 41-81 ^f On these results Professor How remarks that the Lingan is an excellent gas-coal, owing to its low amount of sul- phur, ninety-eight British coals, tried in the Navy Enquiry, having yielded an average of 1"25 per cent. For the same reason, he adds, taking into account also the excel- lent quality of the coke, the Lingan should prove a valuable coal for blacksmiths' uses and for smelting. It will be seen from the following extracts from Prof. How's report that the Lingan possesses all the most im- CAPE BRETON, FROM 1827 TO 1857, INX'LUSIVE, 89 p(jrtant qualities recjuisite to establish its character as a good steam-coal : — ' The ash is very low in all parts of the seam, the average of the whole being only 3-06 per cent. This gives great evaporative power to the coal, and hence, according to late results, it should be valuable for steam purposes. The mean of all my experiments gives for the theoretical evaporative power of the coal 9*19 lbs. as the amount of boiling water which should be evaporated by one pound of coal. This is somewhat above the practical result, even from Welsh steam-coals, in our British Navy steam trials, which gave the highest weight, viz. 9-05 lbs. As it is now known that bitumi- nous coal can be made to give, without smoke, greater heating power than Welsh steam-coals, when their ash is low, a bituminous coal like this of Lingan assumes a new value.' . . . ' I find that the average percentage of ash from fourteen analyses of North of England coals is 3-77, while the Lingan gives only 3*06 per cent., so that in proper furnaces it ought to prove a very good steam- coal indeed ' . . . ' The analysis of the ashes leads me to conclude that, except, perhaps, in the case of that of the bottom coal [one-third of the thickness of the seam], there will not be much clinker formed, as in the other parts of the seam the sulphate of lime and lime bear too small a proportion to the other ingredients, of which a considerable amount is clay; this is especially the case with the middle coal, so that, even when the coal is used altogether, there will probably be little clinker, and the ash will be readily cleaned from the furnace.' The Bras dOr Mine, situated on the southern shore of the little entrance of the Bras d'Or, about four miles from the sea, was opened by the General Mining Associa- tion in 1833, upon a small scale, by driving a level from the water's edge along the strike of the seam. This seam. -V .??'il 90 rRonnERS of the '^oal trade which is probably a continuation of the ' stony scam ' of tlie Sydney mines section (see p. 16), is five feet in thick- ness, (lipi)ing easterly at an angle of six degrees. It was worked for three or four years, but, owing to its inferior quality, it was impossible to effect a sale at a remunerative price, and was, consequently, abandoned. About 9,000 tons altogether were raised, but it was not all disposed of luitil 1853, though sold at a merely nominal rate. Being outside the limits of the General Mining Association's reservations, under the arrangement made with the Government in 1857, which will shortly come under con- sideration, it has since been re-opened and worked by another party, as will be explained in its proper place. The Point Aconi Mine, near the little entrance of the Bras d'Or, on the island of Boulardrie, was opened upon a small scale in 1857, for the purpose of obtaining a few cargoes for trial as a gas-coal, but the results were not en- couraging, and the works were abandoned. The seam, known as the 'Stubbert seam' (see Boulardrie section, p. 19), is seven feet in thickness and is of good quality for domestic purposes. FIJOM 1827 TO 18r,7, INCLUSIVE. 91 CHAPTEE VIIL TROftRESS OF THE COAL TRADE FROM 1827 TO 1857, INCLUSIVE. The chief object of the General Mining Association in opening the coal mines of Capo Breton was to establish an extensive trade with the United States, which at that time derived their principal supplies of bituminous coal from England. It was not expected that the British provinces, where wood was abundant and cheap, would be large consumers ; but the result has proved otherwise, as the reader will learn by an inspection of Tables 11. , III., and IV. at the end of this chapter. These tables, containing the particulars of thirty-one years' experience in the trade, will place the subject before the reader in a more intelligible shape than many pages of explanations, and enable him to draw his own conclusions. Table II., giving the selling price at each mine, the rent and royalty paid to the Government, the import duty in the United '^''s, and the reductions in these several items from time ■ ) ame, will, by comparison with Table III., showing the annual sales, exhibit the general effect of those reductions ; while Table IV. will prove that the principal increase in the sales was due, specially, to the rapidly growing de- mand for Cape Breton coal in the British provinces. It must, undoubtedly, have been a great disappoint- ment to the General Mining Association to find in 1857 that, after a struggle of thirty years, in which neither I n 1 %1^ ^^ll. H ) i,i'.' 92 PROGRESS OF THE COAL TRADE trouble nor expense was spared, the sale of Cape Breton eoal had made such little progress in the United States ; it may, however, be some satisfaction to the jjresent pro- prietors to know that the want of success in that direc- tion was owing to circumstances entirely beyond the conti'ol of the Association or their agents in the United States. The following remarks will prove this assertion. In the first place, when the Association began to work the Sydney mines in 1827, commercial intercourse be- tween the United States and the British provinces was hampered by so many restrictions, that it was impossible to deliver Cape Breton coal in New York or Boston at a price that would conmiand the market. In addition to an import duty of six shillings and ninepence per ton upon the coal (Table 11. ), colonial vessels entering ports of the United States were subject to a duty of four shil- lings per ton upon their registered tonnage, and United States vessels were liable to a similar duty trading to colonial ports. Besides, as Halifax was the only free port in Nova Scotia, British vessels trading at the mines could not proceed direct to the United States, but were obliged to touch at Halifax to clear out for their destination ; whilst American vessels, on the other hand, could not enter any port in the province except Halifax, unless driven in by stress of weather for shelter. In the course of the followmg year, however, the tonnage dues were abolished by both countries, and the ports of Sydney and Bridgeport were opened to foreign vessels, through the influence of the directors of the Association in England. These restrictic .s were, however, scarcely removed when another obstacle of a more serious nature arose to the Cape Breton coal trade. Wood was so generally used as fuel in the United Slates in 1827, that the consumption of coal in Boston and New York only amounted in that FROM 1827 TO 1857, INCLUSIVE. 93 * '■■■ - vQnr to 172,428 tons, of which Great Britain siipphecl 34,647, Vircrinia 79,214, and remisylvania 58,507 tons. As tlie demand for coal was rapidly increasing, and wood was becoming scarcer and dearer, there appeared to be a favoin\able opening for the introduction of a large quan- tity of foreign coal ; but, unfortunately for the Ca})e Breton mines, just at this juncture the anthracite corJ of Pennsylvania, which had hitherto reached the markets on the sea-board in very small quantities, obtained an outlet to the ocean by means of the Schuylkill navigation, wiiich was opened in 1825. This canal, 108 miles in length, formed an uninterrupted communication between Potts- ville, the centre of the anthracite region, and the j)ort of Philadelphia, from whence the coal was shipped, at moderate rates of freight, direct to Boston and New York, where, of course, it was delivered free of duty, and '^ame into competition with Cape Breton coal, burdened with an import duty of six shillings and ninepence per ton. Although objectionable in some points, the anthracite, when it became well known and tlie mode of using it understood, was found to be superior to bituminous coal on account of its cleanliness, durability, and freedom from smoke. Consequently it soon came into general use, and established a character which it has ever since maintained, notwithstanding the reduction of the duty on foreign coals and tlieir lower cost. In 1847, aftei' twenty years' experience, anthracite sold readily in Boston at six dol- lars, whilst Sydney could hardly be disposed of at five dollars and a half per ton. In the same year the sales of anthracite amounted to 2,982,309, whilst Sydney only reached 23,539 tons. It might be supposed, from the amount of shipments to the United States between tlie years 1830 and 1833 in- clusive, as shown in Table IV., \hat there was a marked IS J k m i ny 94 PROGRESS OF THE COAL TRADE .f.i'- . '^.n increase in tlie demand ; but tliis was not the fact, for the Association shipped the greater portion of tlie coal that went to the United States on consignment to their agents, with instructions to sell at such prices as it would bring — prices wliich, it need .scarcely be added, s "Idom covered cost and charges. This practice was discontinued in the two following years, but, unfortunately, was resumed in 1836-37 and 38 under a still more objectionable form, large quantities of coal having been shipped nnd yarded in depots at New York at a heavy cost. It m^y easily be imagined that, so long as a large stock of coal was kept in store, it was impossible for the regular traders to sell their cargoes direct from the ship. These were driven out of the business, while, on the other hand, the Associa- tion were unable to sell from their depot at a remu- nerating ])rice subject to such heavy charges for wliarftige, yarding, rent, and agencies. The coal, in consequence, after remainincf a lon^? time on hand and sufTerincj much deterioration from exposure to the weather, was obliged to be sold at ' an alarming sacrifice.' It will be seen by Table IV. that a large quantity of coal was sold in 1839 — namely, 45,356 tons. Tliis large exceptional shipment occiUTed under a contract with a colonial firm, which undertook to sell 30,000 tons upon condition of being supplied at a rate considerably under the regular selling price. Neither the Association nor the contractors made any profit by this transaction. Notwithstanding a reduction of four shillings per ton in the duty in IS-IT, and its total abolition in 1857 under the provisions of the Eeciprocity Treaty, the exports to the United States continued to decline, the average sales during that period having reached only 15,400 tons per annum. Indeed, this low average even would not have been reached if the sales had been confined to Sydney FROM 1827 TO 1857, INCLUSIVE. m cotil; it was only brought up to that amount by the intro(lu(;tion of Lingan coal in 1855 for the use of the gas-works. It will thus be seen that neither reduced selling prices nor its admission duty free could secure for Sydney coal a market in the United States in competition with their own anthracite, which had now come into general use for domestic purposes.^ The loss of the American market has, happily, been compensated for, in a great measure, by the gradual Mid steadily increasing demand in the British provinces. In the early years of their "settlement, when wood was plen- tiful at every man's door, we have seen (Table I.) that the use of Sydney coal was confined to the town and garrison of Halifax, and that the average sales from 1785 to 1826 only amounted to 5,000 tons per annum. As wood became scarce the sales would naturally have in- creased had they not been checked by the high price at the mines, which, up to 1826, was seldom under thirteen shillings per ton. As the same price was maintained up to the year 1833, notwithstanding a considerable increase in the population, the average sales did not exceed 10,000 tons per annum. When, however, the selling price was reduced in 1834, the sales in that and the five subsequent years averaged 25,000 tons per annum. Again, when a further reduction of price was made in 1839, the sales began to increase rapidly until the year 1857 — the limit of the period under consideration — when they reached 98,300 tons per annum. These results are too palpable to be overlooked. They plainly show that tlie General Mining Association must look chiefly to the British pro- vinces for a market for their Sydney coal, where its character is well known and appreciated, and that they ' Tho quautity of anthracite raised in the United States in 1870 amounted to 15,72:^,080 tons. '^ r§ m I 96 TOOGRESS OF THE COAL TRADE Mm: will find it their interest to Toster the trade by selling at low prices to regular customers, thereloy securing a fair profit on their outlay, perfectly free from the fluctuations, and consequent losses, attendant upon a foreign trade, liable at any moment to be suspended by a hostile tariff. It formerly was the custom, as has been already men- tioned, to ship the large and small coal together, charging the same price for the whole ; but the General Mining Association soon found that coal shipped in this condition could not be sold in the United States, where it had to compete with English coal carefully screened, and even hand-picked specially for the New York market. The practice was, therefore, discontinued in 1831, when the small coal was offered for sale at half price ; as this reduction was not sufficient to create a demand, it was further lowered in 1837 to three shiUings and fivepence per ton, being one-third of that of large coal. Since that time it will be observed, by reference to Table IV., the sale of this description of coal has been gradually increasing both in the United States and the colonies. In the former it is chiefly used in the furnaces of steam- engines employed in manufactories, as its facility of ignition and very low price enal)le it to compete success- fullv with anthracite. In tho colonies it is used for lime- burning, and also in common fires mixed with wood, by farmers and persons who cannot afford to purchase large coal . o I* 00 CI H U m '**.^ ^ ^* w >. 1— -»* _ Si H^ a *^- -C w •C "/:: ^^ 'J ^- ^ is.;> c »* 5^ ^.. r** 3 J» c^ IN* ^ a <«• O ^ H •K. U ? K ^ i rr? 3. FROM 1H27 TO 1857, INCLUSIVE. 97 i i» 00 N CI 00 V 5i 'Jl 3 s N *> a !>5 f3 >^ -n '"' ■M f*-« ao a< I-H :/j c t^ £ >' O. 1 A -tJ o o U «w O € <1 01 eo eo c CO b '^-* >— 3 c tn O ■« t4 . to •8 « ^ 6s2 CO I-H «..0(N.C>5..N oort o 00 oooooooop '^ t3 T3 '^ TS 'O t3 'w "^ T3 'C 'O n3 'v CO ^-4 O OS O Oi I I t^.COUS I I o ooooooooooooooeooooooc I I 'd '3'3'3'3'3'3'3'3'3'0'3'3'3'3'3'3'a'3'3'3'3'3 CO U3 CO >je4 lOt^iO.eo ^ 000000 oi-io 000000000000000000 "3 TS "3 TJ 'O TJ 'd TJ -3 TJ "3 T3 tS "3 "3 "3 '3 "3 TJ "3 tS 'C "3 tS "3 'd . « ^ o> o © aoaoaooooDaoGOooGOcoaoaoaocoaoaoooac v:oo90aocoocQOOococoaooooo H C3 Pi I bo .a 9^ ■;k; A[] 1^ ill m ^, ifi 98 TROORESS OF THE COAL TRADE Table III. — Quantify of Coal sold, in Toiut, at the Sydnnij, Bridge- port, Bras d'Or, Lingan, and Point Aconi Mines fruiti 1827 to 1857, iticlusive. If • m lii iff Year Sydney Bridgeport Bras d'Or Llngan Toint Aconi Totals Large Small Large Small Large Small Large SmcU Largo Small Largo SmaU 1827 12037 — — — 12037 1828 14376 — — — — — — - — — 14375 — 1829 13863 — — — — — ■ — — — — 13863 — 1830 16665 — 1621 — -^ — — — — 18286 — 1831 20896 — 4287 — — — — — — — 25183 — 1832 2773& 201 4827 — — — — — — — 32663 201 1833 19815 185 15252 — 1417 — — — — — 36484 185 1834 16223 29 13499 17 171 — — — — — 2ol23 46 1835 20905 70 9976 17 64 — — — — — 30946 87 1836 43064 248 11555 84 131 — — — — — 64760 332 1837 47407 1108 17063 257 1965 8 _.. — — 66435 1373 1838 38628 608 17582 627 369 33 — — — 56679 1268 1839 60920 431 17469 686 19 67 — — — — 78408 6^044 78744 1184 1840 1841 61148 66595 1237 1669 16854 12124 1097 442 42 25 47 46 — — — 2381 2157 1842 67888 2212 5717 652 173 68 — — — — 73778 2932 1843 65582 2349 — 126 98 54 — — — — 65680 2529 1844 63843 1851 — 148 89 39 — — — — 63932 2038 1845 67825 4642 2279 227 — 1535 — — — — 70104 6404 1846 60027 3708 207 134 — 764 — — — — 60234 4606 1847 72971 4853 190 165 ..^ 535 — — — — 73161 6553 1848 70417 4089 116 176 — 670 — — — — 70532 4834 1849 69869 4281 19 129 — 660 — — — — 69888 4970 1850 67844 5651 — 26 — 76 — — — — 67844 6751 1861 64131 6231 — — _ — — — — — 64131 6231 1852 73886 6126 — — — 63 — — — — 73886 6178 1853 72696 4616 — — — 14 — — — — 72696 4530 • 1854 93178 6816 — — — — 322 11 — — 93600 6826 1866 82269 6182 — — — — 4472 660 — 69 86741 6801 1856 94777 6714 — — — — 8801 367 98 166 103676 7237 1857107430 1 8641 ~~" _ ^" — 9537 341 r 461 149 117418 9131 1 li: ■Igc. 1 to 1%^ FROM 1827 TO 1857, INCLUSIVE. 99 Tahle IV. — Quantity of Cape Breton Coal sold, in Tons, in Nova Si'ittia and Cape lireton, the nalijhhouring Colonies, and the United States from 1827 to 18o7, inclusive. Year Nova Sco Cape B Large hia and reton Small Neighbouriug Colonies United States Totals Large Small Large Small Large Small 1827 11738 299 _ — 12037 1828 11910 — 997 — 1468 — 14376 — 1829 9132 — 1832 — 2899 — 13863 — 1830 8812 — 1112 — 8362 — 18286 ... 1831 7493 — 735 — 16956 — 25183 — 1832 6328 201 2769 — 24460 — 32563 201 1833 9912 185 3587 — 22985 — 36484 186 1834 18975 46 4437 — 6481 — 29893 46 1835 13080 37 6388 — 11477 60 30946 87 1836 12039 165 93fi2 — 33359 167 64760 332 1837 13699 38 17217 372 36619 963 66436 1373 1838 19198 360 11086 82 26296 826 66679 1268 1839 19637 235 13415 — 45356 949 78408 1184 1840 23489 1232 11757 123 27798 1026 630.44 2381 1841 30915 536 16276 243 31553 1378 70744 2167 1842 28610 1706 28221 280 16947 946 73778 2932 1843 27575 960 19734 463 18371 625 65680 2529 1844 24189 1340 22327 412 17416 280 63932 2038 1845 21185 1 2847 24724 1977 24916 1580 70104 6404 1846 26327 J 2686 21106 1069 12801 952 60234 4606 1847 26897 J 2679 22726 1ft 36 23639 1109 73161 6563 1848 31938^ 2086 22596 1870 16999 879 70632 4834 1849 33004 2682 19968 694 16926 1694 69888 4970 1850 27505 2168 26225 1363 16114 2220 67844 6751 1861 30084 1628 23256 442 10791 3161 64131 6231 1862 33766 1964 28988 613 12141 2601 73886 6178 1853 24413 2002 37100 742 11183 1786 72696 4530 1854 33134 2672 40961 536 19405 2719 93500 5826 1855 33370 2416 36282 333 17088 4052 86741 6801 1856 45678 2847 40938 182 17060 4208 103676 7237 1857 40570 2704 57794 213 19064 6214 117418 9131 H 2 ill in 100 SURRENDER OF THE DUKE OF YOlUv'S LEASE ; CHAPTER IX. SURRENDER OP THE DUKE OF VOUK'S LEASH ; NEW LEASE FKOM THE GOVERNMENT OF NOVA SCOTIA TO THE (iKNKllAL MINING ASSOCIATION. Having now brought down our narnitive to tlio year 1858 — a most important epoch in the liistory of the coal trade — it will be necessary, in order to place the subject clearly before the reader, to revert to some trans- actions which have already been noticed in a previous chapter. It will be recollected that, although the Sydney mines had been worked ever since the establishment of a separate government in the island in 1785, no sensible progress had been made in the trade up to the year 1820, when Cape Breton was annexed to the Government of Nova Scotia. During the next six years no improve- ment took place; and, when the lease of the Messrs. Bowns expired in 1826, the Governor, Sir James Kempt, could not find any parties in Nova Scotia disposed to take the mines, thougli men possessed of ample means were not wanting. These, however, had their capital employed in other pursuits, and were unwilling to embark in mining speculations, with which they were entirely unacquainted. Under these circumstances the reserved mines of Sydney and Pictou, as has already been related, fell into the hands of the General Mining Association. Wlien it first became known in the province, in 1 826, that a lease of the mines had been granted to the Duke of York, by whom they had been sublet to a rich English NEW IvEASE TO THE GENICRAL MINIi\(i ASSOCIATION. 101 company prepared to work them on a large scale, the intelligence was received with great satisfaction by the colonist.^, who justly anticipated that the prosperity of the country would be increased, and the revenue pro- portionably augmented, by their operations. Not a word was then ittered against the Duke of York's lease, nor against the transfer of the reserved mines to the Asso- ciation in the following year. The experience of a few years amply verified the ftivourable anticipations of the colonists. The expenditure of 300,000/. previous to the year 1846, in a colony con- taining not .nore than 250,000 inhabitants, in sinking pits, constructing railways and wharves, building houses, erecting machinery, and in opening a foreign trade, was sensibly felt tliroughout the length and breadth of the land. Tlie farmers obtained a good market for their produce, the merchants a ready sale for their importa- tions, hundreds of the people constant employment at good wages, and the commercial marine lucrative freights. The benefits conferred upon the province by the opera- tions of the General Mining Association were fully ac- knowledged by a committee of the House of Assembly, appointed in the session of 1839 to investigate a matter connected with the Pictou mines, which, among other things, reported 'that the operations of the Mining Association had been highly advantageous to the province by the introduction of science and skill, by the erection of machinery, by the creation of a foreign trade in coals, and by the annual expenditure of upwards of 50,000/. in the midst of a population employed in agricultural pur- suits ; and that it was the duty of the Legislature to favour and encourage the introduction and employment of capital, and the protection of those who were largely extending the trade and developing the resources of the "■rovidcnt and unconstitutional.' But if it was ' im- provident and unconstitutional ' in 1845 it was equally so in 1827, when the Association began to expend their money in the provinces ; and they ought, in common fairness, to have been candidly told that their rights would be disputed, and should not have been allowed to invest a capital of 300,000/. in the country without fair warning, and then find themselves denounced as mono- polists and oppressors of the poor by the very people who, up to that time, had aloL profited by their vast ex- penditure. Having challenged the rights of the Association to the mines of the province, the House of Assembly, in the session of 1845, passed a resolution authorising the Executive to take the opinion of counsel in England upon the legality of the Duke of York's lease. In accordance with this resolution a case was prepared and submitted to three eminent lawyers in England^ who unanimously gave their opinion in favour of the legality of the title of the General Mining Association. Though candidly told by their own counsel that the claims of the Association could not be set aside, and informed officially by Lord Stanley in 1844, and by Lord Grey in 1849, that the British Government was determined to uphold the rights of the Association, the question was debated with considerable warmth on the floors of the Assembly in every succeeding session up to that of 1852. Finding that all their debates amounted to nothing, the House of Assembly gave up the idea of upsetting the Association's claims, and prudently resolved to adopt a more pacific course, which, as will shortly be seen, soon produced beneficial results, and gave to the Provincial Government the possession and control of nearly all the mines and minerals of the country. In the sessions of 1852, 1854, and 1855 resolutions were passed authorising the Governor and Council to open negotia- ' u m 104 SUilUKNUKIi OF TIIK DIKK OK YOUKS LKASK ; m tiona witli the General Mining Association for the puiposo of ascertaining upon wliat terms the latter wouhl ngree to surrender their claims to all the mine^ except those they were working; but tlie Association, tliough well disposed to enter into some satisfactory arrangement with the Provincial Government, were not in a posilion to negotiate for that purpose, on account of a hi ii't then pending in the Court of Chancery with tlu x) ''2 of York's executors. In the following year, hov/evcr, thia suit having been settled, the House of Assembly passed an address offering to confirm the Association in the undisputed possession of aV the coal-mines they had opened, to increase the areas of their operations to any reasonable extent they might desire, and to reduce the royalty to one- half of its amount, provided the Associa- tion would surrender their exclusive right or claim to all the other mines and minerals in the province. At the same time a resolution was i)assed requesting the Execu- tive Government to take proper steps for effecting a settlement of this vexed question. In accordance with this resolution proposals were made to send delegates from Nova Scotia to confer with the directors of the General Mining Association, which were readily agreed to, as the Association were equally desirous of closing an iriitating controversy, which had been detrimental to their interests, and which, if persisted in, might lead to further embarrassing and more serious complications. Having thus secured the assent of the Association to the proposed conference, the following resolution, in the session of 1 857, was submitted by the Attorney-General and adopted by the House of Assembly : — ' That, if the Provincial Government shall find it necessary, for effect- ing a satisfactory compromise Caledonia )> »» Glaco Bay Little Glaco Buy M International Bridgeport )> Victoria Low Point >1 Ingrahara's . Bras d'Or Road » Collins Little Braa d'Or » Matheson's . >» >» Black llock . Great Br> Victoria Chimney Corner Margarie Inverness Broad Cove Gulf Shore j> Mabou u • • >» Port Hood S^■. George's Bay jt Richmond . Little River Richmond Sea Coal Bay Gut of Canceau » I. THE SOUTH HEAD COLLIERY, COW BAY. The mining area (I. on map) upon which tliis colliery is situated consists of about fifty acres, situated at the extreme 6nd of the narrow promontory lying between Mira and 'Cow Bays. It will be seen by reference to the section (p.*' 29), that there are several seams of coal in this area, but hitherto the workings have been confined to the second group in the series, consisting of four beds of coal, separated by thick strata of shale and fire-clay. In this group there are eleven feet and a-half of coal, but the lowest bed, only three feet and a-half in thickness, is supposed to be worth working. This part of the seam is said to be of good quality, hard and compact, and capable of withstanding exposure to the weather. It contains about 262,500 tons of coal.^ The mine was first * In this and tho subsequent estimates of the quantity of coal in each area it is assumed that each acre of coal one foot in thickness contains 1,500 tons, taking the average specific gravity at 1'250. BETWEEN THE YEARS 18158 AND 1870. 117 opened iu 18G3, by means of a level driven from the eastern sliore of the bay, where a wharf was erected, which was destroyed by a gale in 1807. When the present owners of the mine — a New York Company — purchased the lease, they sunk a pit seventy-one feet in depth, about eighty yards from the crop of the seam, and erected an engine of ten horse-power to raise the coal. A light railway, three-quartei's of a mile in length, was also laid down to a new wharf further up the bay. This sec3nd wharf also was almost totally destroyed by an easterly gale in 18(59. It has not since been rebuilt. The sales since the mine was first opened in 18C5 have averaged about l^SOQ tons per anmun. See Table V. 7 J> / II. TRACEY'S COLLIERY, MIRA BAY. This Colliery was opened on the seam, marked No. 9 in the sectional diagram at p. 27, near its outcrop at the north end of False Bay Beach, by Mr. Tracey and some others in 18G4. The extent of their mining area, marked II. on the map, is about one square mile, and contains 3,520,000 tons of coal. This seam, supposed to be the lowest in the coal-field, consists of an upper bed two feet six inches, and a lower one foot two inches in thickness, separated by a ten-inch layer of shale. In 1864, 540, and in 1865, 2,391 tons of coal were raised, but as the quality did not prove so good as had been anticipated, the mine was abandoned in the following year. III. GOWRIE MINES, COW BAY. This mining area, consisting of 1,280 acres on the north side of Cow Bay, marked III. on the map, was leased to Messrs. Archibald & Co., of North Sydney, in 1861. V U^ 11 ''Ml 118 CULI.IKKIES Ul'ENED IN CAPE BHETON There are two workable seams of coal upon tliis property, the McAiilay of four feet ten inches, and the Mcllury of four feet four inches in thickness (see diagram, p. 20, and section, p. 27), dij)ping to the north-east at an angle of six degrees. The contents of this area will be — Ft. in. In the McAiilay aeain, 775 acres 4 10 thick 5,500,000 McRury 9G5 6,372,000 Tons 11,872,000 H The greatest depth of the McEury seam from the surface will be about 200 yards in the centre of the basin. Operations were commenced in the first instance by opening an old French working in the McAulay seam near the shore, from whence a level was driven on the strike. In 1864, a pit seventy-five feet in depth was sunk thirty- five chains from the shore, upon the continuation of the level, but this having proved incapable of supply- ing all the coal required, a new pit was sunk 350 yards to the dip of the level. This pit is 208 feet in depth, and is worked by a twenty-five horse-power engine, capable of pumping the water and raising 300 tons of coal per day. Owing to the presence of a peculiar slickensides fracture crossing the usual cleats or joints, this coal can be worked without blasting, which prevents much break- age ; but, on the other hand, for the same reason, it can only be obtained in small lumps. The proportion of small coal made in working is very large, amounting to one-third of the whole of the produce. The Gowrie coal by analysis consists of — , IIHTVVMKN TllK YKAJiS 1^58 AM) 1870. 119 Rloisturo 1-80 Volatile matter 27-08 Fixed carbon GO-45 Sulphur a-42 Ash .... 7-25 100-00 It yields, according to the report of the New York Gas Company, which took a considerable quantity of this coal in 18G5, 9,000 cubic feet of gas per ton. It has not since been shipped for that purpose, on account most hkely of the presence of an excess of sulpliur. Notwith- standing the hirge proportion of ash, it is much esteemed for raising steam, as it does not form a cHnker on the furnace bars. It is also used to some extent in the Colonies, chiefly for domestic purposes. The shipments, since the colliery was opened nine years ago, have averaged 27,000 tons of large and 7,000 of small per annum, of which about equal proportions have been sold in the Home market, the British Colonies, and the United States, exclusive of an average sale of about 2,000 tons during the last five years in the West Indies. The coal is conveyed by a railway, three-quarters of a mile in length, from the pit to a wharf constructed at a great expense on the north shore of the bay, where vessels drawing seventeen feet can load at low water. This wharf is 1,300 feet in length, and though protected by a breakwater 300 yards to the eastward, erected at a cost of 18,000/., it is not a safe place for vessels to load at all times, being exposed to the heavy swell that sets into the bay during south-easterly gales. Several fine vessels have been lost in Cow Bay since it was first used as a shipping place. There is little risk during the summer season ; but late in the autumn, when easterly If k mn 120 COLLIERIES OPENED IN CAPE BRETON. gales spring up so suddenly that vessels have not time to get out of the bay, it is not a safe shipping place. This is proved by the fact that shipowners at that season demand a higher rate of freight to cover the risk. In the face of this difliculty, nevertheless, the expei'ience of the last few years has proved that a considerable export of coal can be made from Cow Bay. IV. BLOCK HOUSE MINE, COW BAY.' The tract, marked IV. on the map, on the north side? of Cow Bay, covering an area of 1,280 acres, was first leased to Mr. Marshall Bourinot, of Sydney, in 1859, by whom it was sold, in I860, to a New York Com})any. There are three workable seams (above three feet in thickness) upon this property, namely, the uppermost or Block House seam, nine feet ; the middle, or McAiday, four feet ten inches ; and the lowest, or McEury, four feet four inches in thickness. The Tracey seam, already described, underlies both the Block House and the Gowrie areas, but at such a great deptli as to render it practically inac- cessible. The Block House seam, lying in the centre of the Cow Bay basin, occupies an area of about 200, the McAulay 550, and the McBury 580 acres. As at least one-fourth of the area of the Block House seam has already been worked out, there remains only about 150 acres of solid coal. No coal whatever has been tai^en from the two other seams in this area ; therefore, it con- tains at present the following quantity of coal : — ' Correct i ccounts of the quantity of coal shipped from the Gowrie, as well as all the other new mines, since they were first opened up to the end of the year 1870, will bo found in Table V. >' 41^ BETWEEN THE YEAKS 18^8 AND 1870. 121 .;j() Ft. ill. In tilt' Block House seam, 150 ucros 9 „ McAiilay „ 550 „ 4 thick 2,000,000 McKury 580 10 4 ^ < 5' ,1)80,000 3,770,000 Tons 9,750,000 The Block House Mine was iirst opened by driving a level tliroiif^h some old workings into the solid coal, where a pit was sunk near to the shore. Most of the coal is now drawn up an inclined plane or slope from the workings to the level of the v/harf, by an engine of forty- five horse-power, from whence it is discharged into the vessels. In the winter months, when no vessels are loading, it is raised up a shaft to the surface by an engine of forty horse-power, where it is deposited ready for ship- ment in the following summer. This pit communicates with the wharf by means of a light railway one quarter of a mile in length. The wharf is about 800 feet in length, having a depth of twenty feet at its extreme end at low water. A large business can be done in fine weather, but during easterly gales the bay is open to the swell of the Atlantic, when vessels can neither lie at the wharf nor at anchor in safety. The wharf, too, having no protection by moans of a breakwater, as in the case last mentioned, is liable in the spring to be seriously damaged by the large masses of drift ice which float into the bay. It has been more than once nearly totally destroyed either by easterly gales or drift ice, and several vessels, loading or waiting their turns to load, have been wrecked. The want of a good secure place of shipment is much felt by the owners of the mines at Cow Bay and in the vicinity. It is well worth their while to consider wiicther they would not be gainersby jointly constructing a railway either to Louisbourg or Sydney, or by con- ' . ' ^) ill i" ■'4 Ww'i ■fli > '<; .1 122 COLLIKIUKS OPENED IN CAPE BRETON iiecting their works by means of short branches witli the ^ line recently made by the International Company from Bridgeport to the latter harbour. The quality of the Block House coal is very superior, being free from sulphur and otlier impurities. The seam is also free from faults, but the workings are often interrupted by large wedge-shaped masses of shale which penetrate it in various directions, thereby causing much trouble to the miner and expense to his employers. It consists, by analysis, of — Moisture Volatile matter Fixed carbon Ash r>oo 33-80 55-80 5-40 10000 It is cliiefly used in the manufacture of gas in New York and Boston, and is reported to yield 10,500 cubic feet per ton. It is also said to have given satisfactory results when mixed with Welsh steam coal, having effected a saving of twelve per cent, in consumption, compared with Welsh coal alone. During the eleven years the colliery has been in operation the shipments have averaged 47,000 tons per annum. V. ACADIA COLLIERY, SCHOONER POND. This mining area, comprising 640 acres, marked V. on the map, was taken up by Mr. Ross in 1862. There is only one workable seam on the property, five feet in thickness, dipping nearly due north at an angle of six degrees. Its relative position in the Glace Bay series will be seen by reference to the diagram and section at page 24. As the seam crops out close to the northern boundary BETWEEN THE YEARS lHo8 AND 1870. 123 w^ of the area and dips under the lands of the Clyde Com- pany, the quantity of coal that can be obtained is very trifling — quite insufficient for the establishment of a colliery ^.^cept upon a very limited scale. The mine was opened in 1863 by means of a level driven from the sea shore. The coal is said to be of good quality, suitable for raising steam, and for the manufacture of gas, yielding 9,500 cubic feet per ton. Owing to the exposed situa- tion of the place of shipment in tlie open bay, which can only be used in fine weather with an ofl'-shore wind, very little work has been done at this colliery. In the three years ending in 1866 the shipments averaged 2,800 tons per annuiii. No coal has been raised since that year, except a few tons in 1869. It is said the owners of the Acadia Colliery have sold their area to the Clyde Com- pany which occupies the adjacent area. VI. CLYDE COLLIERY^, GLACE BAY. The tract owned by the Clyde Company comprises an area of 880 acres on the coast between Glace Bay and Schooner Pond, marked VI. on the map. There are three seams of coal upon the property, — the Pholan, averaging seven feet nine inches; the Ross, five feet; and the Back Pit, one foot six inoiies,^ in thickness. (See diagram and section, p. 24). The Phelan seam occupies an area of 490, and the Eoss of 785 acres. The quantity of workable coal is, therefore — Ft. in. In the Phelan seam, 490 acres 7 9 thick 5,800,000 „ Ross „ 785 „ 5 „ 6,700,000 m Tons 12,500,000 i ll:! ^ii > In the Glace Hay section this 8t;am is four feet six inches in thickness. In its course to the eastward it Inu? decreased to one foot six inches. I 'Vil .liiN 1 :-!■ . I nil W Rll 124 COLLIEIUES OPENED IN CAPE BRETON Operations were ])e.v. 7(1. sterling, per ton, "which, it is said, enabled the directors to pay a dividend of 40 per cent, to the shareholders. 1)1 il- IX. INTERNATIONAL MINES, BKIDGEPORT. This area of four square miles (marked IX. on the map), was taken up in separate lots, in 1858, by Messrs. Cadougan and McLeod, by whom it was sold in 18G3 to the International — a New York company. There are four workiible seams of coal on the j)roperty, exclusive of the Lorway and Gardener seams, which are found at an inconvenient depth for Avorking, namely, the Ilarbour, Back Pit, Phelan, and Eoss seams. (See diagram and section, p. 24.) Their average dip being north-east, at an angle of four degrees, the depth of the Eoss, the lowest seam at the extremity of the area, will be 320 yards below the surface. Taking the several seams at the thickness given in the section (p. 24), the total quantity of coal will amount, as shown in the following statement, to 47,000,000 tons. Ft. In 540 acres of the Harbour seam 5 „ 1,470 .. „ Back Pit „ 4 „ 1,G50 „ 1,760 >> 5> Phelan Ross » 8 5 m. thick 6 3 11 4,000,000 9,900,000 20,500,000 13,200,000 Total Tons 47,000,000 % 4 BETWEEN THE YEARS 1858 AND 1870. 129 All tlie coal hitherto raised on this area has been taken from the Harbour seam. No analysis has been published, but it is said to be a hard, compact coal, standing the weather better than many of the Cape Breton coals, and to be, comparatively, free from shale and sulphur. It is used in the United States chiefly for gas-making. The mine was first opened in 1858, by driving a level from the shore along the strike oi the seam, from which bords were worked at right angles up to the outcro). The coal was taken off in scows to vessels at anchor in the open bay. When the International Company purchased the property in 1863, they surveyed and marked out a lin^, of railway from the mines to the harbour of Sydney, a distance of twelve miles and a half, with the intention of immediately proceeding with its construction ; but, owing to the abro- gation of the Reciprocity Treaty, and the imposition of a duty of five shillings per ton, the intention was suspended. In the year 1869, having good reason to expect that the duty would soon be taken off, the directors of the company decided upon the construction of the railway, which was completed and opened for use in the autumn of 1870. The course of the railway, and the situation of the shipping wharves near the town of Sydney, are marked on the map. The wharf is one thousand feet in length, and is provided with berths suitable for vessels of the largest class. The railway, with its equipment of locomotives and waggons, will afford great facilities to those mining companies which do not possess any places of shipment, as it is un- derstood the International will soon be prepared to carry and ship their coal at moderate rates. The only pit now in operation is about 80 feet deep, sunk upon the original level, at a distance of 1,200 yards from the shore. It is worked by a small engine of ten horse-power. Having now completed their railway, the International will, no .."'I . I lit ■V 4: if. 130 COTJ-TETIIES OPENED IN CAPE IJPETON doubt, soon prepare pit-room upon a larger scale, com- mensurate with the demand for their coal which, it is said, can readily be sold in the United Stiites. Owing to the want of a safe place of shipment, tlie sales, from the opening of the mine in 1858 w *:o the close of 1870, have not averaged more than 0,000 tons of large, and 1,500 tons of small coal per annum. X. VICTORIA MINES, LOW POINT. The area owned by the Victoria company (marked X. on the map), lies under the waters of Sydn(iy Harbour, and is bounded at high-water mark by the Lingan tract of tlie General Mining Association. It extends, according to the best information the writer has been able to obtain, about four miles along the shore from McPhee's Ferry to Low Point lighthouse, having an average width of half a mile, and consequently comprises an area of 1,280 acres. It will be seen, by reference to the section at p. 33, that six seams of coal, of a thickness of four feet or upwards, crop out on the Low Point shore within the limits of this area, which, if undisturbed by faults, probably extend, as marked on the map, from their respective outcrops down to its northern boundary. Assuming this to be the case, which is very doubtful, the quantity of coal contained in the area will exceed 50,000,000 tons, as shown in the following statement : — Ft. in. Carr's seam, 782 acres 4 thick 4,090,000 Paint's „ 080 „ 9 >' 13,230,000 Cnindall „ 1,052 V 4 4 n 6,700,000 lioss „ 1,150 „ n 7 J» 11,350,000 McGilvray 1,295 „ 5 )» 9,710,000 Frazer „ 1,595 „ 4 2 „ Total tons 9,960,000 55,640,000 BETWEEN THE YEAHS 18r)8 AN!) IW). 131 \\\ ostimatinfT the Jiroa of (3iicli seam, it must be observed that its width fVcmi the crop to the northern boundary lias been taken upon the slope, not upon the horizontal width of the surface. In consequence of the rapid dip of the seams, the quantity of coal contained in eacli superficial acre is about one fourth more than in seams of an ordin- {iry inclination. This advantage, however, is more than counterbalanced by the growing expense of pumping water and drawing coal, which increases proportionably with the depth. It is questionable how far these sennis can be worked to the dip at a cost which will remuncrat(» the owners, and considering that the Eoss seam at its lowest point in the area is 4,800 feet below the surface, it is evident that, at anything like the present selling price of coal, only a small portion of the total quantity above estimated can be economically worked. Besides, great caution will be necessary in working, as all the seams crop out under the waters of the harbour. In working ; the main seam at the Sydney mines, some years ago, j the sea water found its way into the exploring levels | through a thickness of 300 feet of strata, which it was- necessary to shut off by strong framed dams. f When the Victoria mine was first opened in 1865, bords were commenced at the foot of a slope 300 feet from the outcrop, but it was abandoned in consequence of the quantity of salt water which found its way into the works. The mine is now worked by a new slope G50 feet in length, two steam engines being employed in drawing coal and pumping water. The ' Ross ' is the only seam at present worked ; its total thickness J (see section, p. 33) is 6 ft. 7 in., but 4 in. at the top, of inferior quality, is left. The Eoss coal, according to Dr. Dawson's analysis consists of — i !i 132 rOTJJERTES OPENED IN CAPE PTIETON hi & I Volatile matter . Fixed carbon . Ash 38-70 r)8'40 2-90 lOO-OO The coal is conveyed by a railway, three miles and a half in length, to a wharf at the South Bar, in a safe and well-sheltered situation with sufhcient deptli of water for vessels of large burthen. The shipments during the last three years have averaged 2,500 tons of large and 500 tons of small coal per annum, most of which has been sold in the British Provinces. .--, XL INGRAHAM'S COLLIERY, BRAS D'OR ROAD. The lease of the area upon which this colKery is situated was taken up by Messrs. Eoach and Mclnnis in 18G3, by whom it was sold to the Messr^. Ingraham, the present owners. It adjoins the General Mining Association's Sydney Mines Tract, and covers an area of one square mile. It is marked XI. on the map. There is only one seam of coal on the property, 4 ft. 8 in. in thickness, of inferior quality, dipping to the north-east at an angle of six degrees. The quantity of coal in the area is very trifling, occupying only about 20 acres on the crop of the Indian Cove seam. (See section, p. 16.) It was opened m 1864 by driving a slope from the outcrop to the dip. A few tons of coal were raised at intervals during the next four years for land sales, but it was abandoned in 1869, and is now filled with water. ^3r. XIL COLLINS' COLLIERY, LITTLE BRAS D'OR. In the year J 859, Mr. Gotreau took out a lease of a small area on the south side of the Little Entrance of the BETWEEN THE YEARS 185S AND 1870. 133 lirus d'Or lakes, adjoiniiij^' the General Mining Association's ISydney Mines Tract, which he sold in 1863 to Mr. Collins, who in that year obtained a lease of an adjoining area. This property, now occupied by Mr. Collins, contains G40 acres, marked XII. on the map. It includes the work- ings of the mine opened by the General Mining Associa- tion in 1833. (See p. 89.) There is only one seam of coal upon the area, 5 ft. in thickness, supposed to be the stony seam of the Sydney Mines section (pp. 16, 18), which dips easterly at an angle of six degrees. Its limits have not been accurately ascertained, but as its area probably does not exceed 100 acres, it will not contain more than 750,000 tons of coal. The mine has been partly worked by a level from the shore, and partly by a slope driven from the outcrop at a point 250 yards inland. The shipping-place is conveniently situated close to the works, where vessels of large burthen can load. Vessels of small draught can reach the sea through the Little En- trance, but those drawing more than 9 ft. of water must go all round the island of Boulardrie to the Great Entrance, a distance of 45 miles. The coal, though sold at a low price, has failed to find a market for the reasons stated at p. 90. From 1861 to 1865 the sales of coal averaged 4,000 tons of large and 270 tons of small per annum. No coal whatever was raised in 1866, and only a few hundred tons in 1867 and 1868. During the last two years the mine may be said to have been practically abandoned, the sales having reached only 40 tons. i i V #1 ' 'f'l Xin. MATHESON'S COI.LIERY, LITTLE BRAS D'OR. The area upon which this colhery is situated was taken up by Mr. Campbell in 1862, who subsequently sold or leased it to Mr. Matheson. It contains 640 acres, and is ia4 COLIJEKIES OPENED IN CAPE BRETON l^ % 1*. marked XIII. on the map. There is only one seam of coal upon the property, three feet in thickness, dipping to the east at an angle of eight degrees. As this seam crops out close to the General Mining Association's coal lands, and dips immediately under them, its extent does not exceed five or six acres. Its identity has not been clearly established, but it probably is a continuation of the seam worked by Mr. Coliins on the opposite side of the Little Entrance of the Bras d'Or. The shipments up to the close of 1868, when the mine was abandoned, averaged only 800 tons per annum. XIV. BLACK liOCK COLLIERY, GREAT BRAS D'OR. The Black Rock area of 640 acres, marked XIV. on the map, was leased to Mr. Campbell in 1864. There is only one workable seam of coal upon this area, 4 ft. in thickness, dipping north-east at an angle of six degrees. This seam, for the reasons fully given at pp. 20, 21, is beyond all doubt identical with the Indian Cove seam of the Sydney Mines section. The area of the seam within the limits of the lease is about 450 acres, and will conse- quently contain about 2,700,000 tons of coal. A colliery upon a very small scale was opened by Mr. Eoss in 1867 by driving a level from the shore. Owing to the inferior quality of the coal the sales have not exceeded 200 tons per annum. As there is not a safe place for shipment within a reasonable distance it is not likely that this coUiery will be long worked, as it cannot compete with so many others much more favourably situated in every respect. XV. NEW CAMPBELLTOWN COLLIERY, GREAT BRAS D'OR. The mining area upon which this colliery is situated, on the north side of the Great Entrance of the Bras d'Or, BETWEEN THE YEARS 18fi8 AND 1870. 135 and at the ■western extremity of the Sydney coal-field, comprises G40 acres, marked XV. on the map. There are two *vorkable seams of coal upon the area — one four, the other six, feet in thickness. The pecidiar position of these seams will be learned by reference to the description given of the Cape Dauphin district at page 22. It is impossible to state the extent of each seam, as they have not been observed at more than two or three places, and the stratification is so much disturbed by the pro- trusion of the syenitic ridge of St. Ann's, that their con- tinuation in any given direction cannot be determined. If the two seams underlie the whoL of the area, which is extremely doubtful, it will contain over 9,000,000 tons of coal. A lease of this area was granted to Mr. Campbell in 18C2, who commenced operations by driving a level from the valley at the foot of the hill (marked on the map), ^vhich intersected the six feet vertical seam at a distance of 151 yards from the entrance, and at a depth of 90 feet from its outcrop. Both the four and six feet seams were worked at the same time by means of this level or tunnel. Subsequently, the four feet seam was opened in the valley mentioned at page 22, where it dips to the east at an angle of twelve degrees, by means of a slope driven from the outcrop. Owing to the difficulty of keeping this slope free from water it was abandoned in 18G6, since which time the workings have been confined to the vertical seams. Thu average sales from 1863 to 1869, inclusive, were 4,000 cons of large and 350 tons of small per annum. The sales reached their highest figure in 1866, since which they have been declining, hav- ing fallen in 1870 to 309 tons of large and 154 of small coal per animm. This colliery possesses an excellent place of shipment at Kelly's Cove, suitable for vessels of the largest burthen, two miles cUstant by thq railway frora ' I i\ !! 1 136 COLLIERIES OPENED IN CAPE BRETON W'' the vertical scams ; but this important advantage is not sufficient to compensate for the inferior quality of tlie coal, ■which, though sold at a low price, cannot obtain a market in competition with the produce of most of the other Ca])e Breton mines. u^ I!- m k XVL CHIMNEY CORNER COLLIERY. MARGARIE. 'y/ This colliery was opened in 1867. Its position will be seen, marked XVI., on the north west-shore of the island, about eight miles to the southward of Margarie Harbour. (See map facing title-page.) No mention is made in the government reports of the extent of the area leased, but it probably does not exceed one square mile. The seam in which the workings have been commenced is five feet in thickness, dipping north at an angle of forty degrees, being the middle seam in the section given at p, 40. No data have been furnished from which the quantity of coal in this area can be ascertained. Owing to its rapid dip and the want of a secure place of shipment — the nearest being Port Hood, 40 miles distant — it is questionable whether this seam can be worked profitably, although it would seem that the lessees are of a different opinion, as they have expended during the last two years nearly 3,000/. in opening thr works, erecting a steam engine for pumping and dra..ihg, and building houses for their workmen. The coal sold during the last four years has averaged only 125 tons per annum. >/ XVII. I3R0AD COVE AREA, GULF SHORE. A lease of this area of one square mile, marked XVII. on the map of the island, was granted to Messrs. McCully and Blanchard in 1865, who proposed to open a mine BETWEEN THE YEAKS 18:,8 AND 1870. 137 upon the seven feet iscani. (See section, p. 39.) The coal is of good quality, consisting of, according to analysis — Moi.sture Volatile matter Fixed carbon 9-00 34-00 57-00 100-00 This seam dips to the north at an angle of ten degrees, but no estimate can be made of the quantity of coal in the area, as its limits have not been defined. As there is no safe place of shipment nearer than Port Hood, the lessees proposed to form an artificial harbour by cutting a cliannel through the beach into a sheet of water called Mclsaac's Pond, in the vicinity. An attempt was made to organise a company in London in 1860 to open the mine and construct the harbour, but v/ithout success. Fifty tons of coal were raised in 1867,, but since that time the lessees have wisely taken no active steps for establishing a colliery, as it would be impossible to ship any considerable quantity of coal m such an exposed situation ; and it is very doubtful whether a harbour, if constructed, could be kept open upon a coast luiprotected from the sand and shingle which accumulates during the prevailing westerly winds on the Gulf shore. XVIII. MABOU AREA, GULF SHORE. An attempt was made in 1866 to open a mine in one of the valuable seams at this place, marked XVin. in the map of the island, but it docj not appear from the inspector's reports that any progress has been made in the undertaking up to the close of 1870. This is owing, it is presumed, to the want of a good harbour for shipping the products of the mine within a reasonable '.. 38.) An engine of fourteen horse-power was erected, and a considerable outlay incurred in buildings, &c. ; but, owing probably to the quality of the coal, the works have been suspended since 1807. There is a safe ship- ping-place close to the works. In 1806, the company sold 1,657 tons of large and 1,171 of small; and in 1867, 3,710 tons of large and 765 of small coal ; but none has been raised since. It is not likely that operations will be resumed, as none of the mines on the west side of the island can possibly compete with the collieries of the Sydney district. XX. RICILMOND COLLIERY, LITTLE RIVER. This colliery, marked XX. on the map of the island, is situated on the banks of Little River, a small stream running into the basin of the river Inhabitants, near the southern end of the Gut .of Canceau. A description of BETWEEN THE YEARS 1858 AND 1870. 139 the scums will be found ut p. 42, A lease was taken out in 1859 by Mr. Marniaud, who subsequently tranjsferi'cd Ills interest to an American company. In 1805 a sliaft 2U0 feet in depth was sunk, and a crosscut driven to intersect the two vertical seams — one three, the other four feet in thickness — which are separated bj?^ ] 54 feet of sandstone and sliale. The coal, according to Dr. Daw- son's analysis, consists of — Volatile matter . . . . 30'25 Fixed carbon .... 5G'40 Ashea 13-25 100-00 An engine of thirty horse power was erected for pump- ing and drawing ; a railway, three miles in length, con- structed to a secure place of shipment in the basin of the river Inhabitants, and every preparation made for an active business; but, for some reason not stated (prob- ably the great cost of working the coal), the works were entirely suspended in 1867. From 18G3 to 1867, in- clusive, the shipments averaged 700 tons of large coal per annum. XXI. SEA-COAL BAY, GUT OF CANCEAU. An attempt was made in 1861 to establish a colliery at this place, but, as might have been expected, without success, the mixed bed of coal and bituminous shale, containing, according to Dr. Dawson's analysis, thirty per cent, of ash, being quite unfit for any industrial purpose. (See p. 41.) A considerable amount has been expended in explorations, and in erecting wharves and buildings. The shipments from 1863 to 1867 averaged 270 tons of large and small coal per annum, but no coal has been raised since the latter year. 140 CULLIEKIES OPENED IN CAPE BRETON in ; NEW MINES IN PROGRESS. Since the preceding pages were written, a, new com- pany has been formed in London, called the ' Glasgow and Cape Breton Coal and Kail way Company,' for the purpose of working the seams in a reserved area of one square mile, situated in the rear of the General Mining Association's area on the south side of Indian Bay ; and for constructing a railway from thence to Fi'esli Water Creek near the town of Sydney. Three seams have been opened at the outcrop said to be 8 feet, 6 feet 9 inches, and 4 feet in thickness, which are probably continuations of the Phelan, Ross, and McEury seams of the Glace Bay section, although they do not quite agree in thickness with the latter. The Lorway, Gardener, and Tracey seams will be found upon this property, but at a great depth ; they are therefore left out of the following estimate of the quantity of coal contained in the area, as it is not likely they will be worked lor many years to come : — Ft. in. In the Phelan seam, 170 acres 8 thick 2,040,000 „ Ross „ 430 „ 6 9 „ 4,353,000 „ McRury „ 540 „ 4 „ 3,240,000 Total tons 9,033,000 According to their prospectus, the directors of the Glasgow and Cape Breton Coal and Eailway Company expect to sell 100,000 tons of coal, at a profit of 15,000/., per annum. They also propose to construct, in addition to their own main line of ten miles from their works to Sydney, branches about twelve miles in length, to the Block House, Gowrie, Acadia, Clyde, and Caledonia collieries ; and to carry their produce to Sydney at the BETWEEN THE YEABS ISns AND 1870. 141 » rate of three halfpence per ton per mile; three of the companies through whose property the railway will pass, liaving offered to guarantee to send from 50,000 to 100,000 tons each over their line annually. Estimating that they will derive a profit of ]9,1G7/. from tliis source, after paying all charges, in addition to 15,000/. per annum from the profit on the sale of coal, tlie directors conclude that they will be able to pay their shareholders an annual dividend of thirty-four per cent, on their capital of 100,000/. As the chief object of the writer is to state facts for the information of persons interested in the Cape Breton mines, he refrains from making any comments upon the above estimates, sincerely wishing that the flattering anticipations of the directors of the Glasgow and Cape Breton Coal and Eailway Company may be realised, be- cause, in that case, other companies which, under more favourable conditions, have for years derived little or no profit from their collieries in Cape Breton, may then look forward hopefully to as good, if not better, returns from their outlay. Two other leases of one square mile each have been recently granted upon the Lorway and Gardener seams of the Glace Bay series, (see p. 24), but nothing has yet been done beyond the sinking of trial pits to prove the seams. When collieries are opened the proprie- tors will have the advantage of sending their produce to Sydney, either by the International or the Glasgow and Cape Breton Company's railways. 142 I m CHAPTER XT. IMPHOVKMRXTS MADE AT THE SYDXKV AM) LIX(JAX MIXKS — (JHXEIIAL MIXJXG ASSOCIATION'S PllOPERTY IN CAl'K BRETON. Having completed our survey of tlio new iriiiK^s opened between the years 1858 and 1870, inclusive, it Avill now be necessary, in order to furnisli the reader with an account of the present condition and capabilities of r?// the mines in Cape Breton, to notice the improvements made at the works of the General Miniua; Association during tlie same period. The collieries of the association, as has been shown in a former chapter, were able to supply all the demand previous to the year 185G, when the Reciprocity Trqaty came into operation ; but when the heavy duty with which coal had hitherto been burdened was re- moved, it was reasonably expected that a vastly increased demand would arise in the United States, and preparations were accordingly made for meeting it. As the area of whole coal at the Sydney mines was rapidly diminishing, it was determined to open a new colliery upon the main seam at Cox Hill, two miles to the westward of the old mines, where its continuation, thickness, and good quality had been proved by trials along its outcrop. A branch railway from the main line was therefore commenced, and a considerable sum expended therein, when it was dis- covered, by further explorations, the seam thinned so rapidly to the dip, that the intention of opening a colliery at Cox Hill was abandoned.^ ' The amount expended on this branch will not be lost, as it will form part of the line from Sydney Harbour— the nearest good shipping-place — to SYDNEY AND LTNGAN MINES, ETC. 143 In this emergency the directors decided npon openinix n new colliery near Lloyd's Cove (see map), to work the main seam npon their submarine area of five sqnare miles, of which a lease was obtained from th<^ 'jovernment in 18()5. For this purpose the sinking of twt iiafts was commenced in 18G8, but, as heavy feeders of water were met with about 300 feet from the surface which overpowered the small engines erected for keeping the shafts clear of water, it was deemed advisable to suspend the sinking until the permanent pumping and coal-raising engines should be erected. These powerful engines have now been erected, and the sinking will be resumed. The pumping engine is a single cylinder high-pressure Cornish engine of 240 horse-power nominal ; the cylinder being C2 inches in diameter, with a nine feet stroke ; the beam, which is 34 feet in length, weighs 18 tons. The winding or coal- drawing engine of 100 horse-power nominal has two high- pressure horizontal cylinders, 36 inches in diameter, with a five feet stroke, connected by a crank shaft 15 inches' in diameter, carrying a rope drum 20 feet in diameter ; which, making full allowances for ordinary delays and stoppages, is capable of raising 1,000 tons of coal per day of ten hours. The depth of the shafts will be about 050 feet. The water will be raised by means of two hfts of pumps 20 inches in diameter. These engines are, beyond all doubt, the most perfect and most powerful that have been erected for mining purposes in British America.^ When the sinking of the shafts is completed, the Sydney mines will be able to supply 300,000 tons of coal per annum, in addition to the 150,000 tons per annum which Point Acoiii, when the valuable seams in the Boulnrdrie district are opened at some future day. 1 A pair of engines of exactly the same dimensions have been also erected by the General Mining: Association at their collieries at Pictou. 144 niPROVEMKNTS MADE AT THE rf- fi tlie present works arc now Ciifjiible of furnis] '.ng. Tlio engine houses, furnaces, and eveiytliing appertaining to the plant at the New Winning being of the most eHieient and substantial doscri})tion, no further outlay will be necessary except for ordinary repairs during the next fifty years at least, and tlie whole of the gettable coal in the submarine area of o,200 acres can be drained and raised without any further ex[)enditure for new steam ma(;liinery. The construction of a mile of new railway, from the present terminus at the Queen Pit to the New Winning, is in progress, and will soon be completed. Two new and powerful locomotives have been added to the rolling stock, and the arrangements for shipping the coal have been greatly improved during the last lew years. It may be safely asserted that the Sydney Mines will, in the course of a year or two, be the most complete mining establish- ment in the dominion. The Sydney Mines also possess another advantage which must be noticed ; beinsf situated near the mouth of the harbour, the shipping-place is seldom closed by ice before the first of February ; and generally open before the first of April, except, occasion- ally, when the drift ice from the Gulf of St. Lawrence is forced into the harbour by an easterly wind. The upper part of the harbour, near the town of Sydney, where the wharves f ^ the two other principal mining establishments are situated, generally freezes up two or three weeks earlier in the winter, and the ice seldom breaks up before the middle or end of April in the spring. Great improvements have also been made at the Lin- gan Mines since 1857. These consist, chiefly, of a rail- way one mile in length, from the pit or slope to the harbour, which is worked by a small locomotive ; ad- ditional shipping places ; and houses for the manager, SYDMIY AM) MNGAN MINKS, ICTU. 145 the Lin- rail- the ad- clerks, overmen, and workmen. The harbour also has been deepened by dredging to allow vessels drawing fourteen feet of wnter to ci'oss the bar at spring tides. Vessels drawing more than fourteen feet have to receive a small poition of their cargoes from lighters outside the bar, but this inconvenience will soon be overcome by a few months' dredging. The good character which the Lingan obtained a few years ago as a gas coal was, im- fortunately, lost in 18G9 and 1870 from a want of proper care in picking out the iron pyrites found in some [larts of the seam, but it is gratifying to learn that, by more careful management, the Lingan coal has now recovered its former good reputation in the United States. The machinery, wharves, rolling stock, and general equipment of the colliery are in good order, and capable of producing from 70,000 to 80,000 tons per annum. This may be increased, by a moderate outlay, to any amount likely to be required, as the General Mining Association have obtained leases of two submarine areas of 3,200 acres each, on the coast between the north head of Indian Bay and the Low Point lighthouse — one adjoin- ing the Lingan works, the other at the Barasois, two miles to the westward. (See map.) Workings have been opened in the first by means of a continuation of the Lingan slope to the dip under the sea ; and in the latter, by driving a slope from the surface near the Barasois Pond in the seam called the 'Barasois Seam,' in the Lingan section (p. 32). The length of this slope is 370 yards ; both coal and water are drawn by a high-pressure engine of thirty horse- power. When this colliery is fully opened out, its produce can be sent for shipment to Lingan Harbour, by a railway two miles in length ; or to Sydney Harbour, by a line three miles in length, in connection with the railway of the Victoria Colliery at Low Point. 146 SCTTEDUT,E OF y'ROPERTY OF TTTF The following schedule of the principal items of the property of the General Mining Association in Cape Breton will, it is hoped, give the shareholders a tolera])ly correct idea of the great extent and value of their posses- sions. It will also clearly prove that, when the coal trade revives under a more liberal tariff in the United States, the Association will be prepared, not only to supply any reasonable quantity of coal that may be required from their present works, but also to open at least half-a-dozen new coUieries, if necessary, within a short distance of commodious harbours, for the shipment of their produce. Schedule of Property of the General Mining Association in Cape Breton. 1. Acreage of Coal Areas under lease. Acres Point Aconi, and Sydney mines, area G. M. A. (1) on Map 11,700 Lingan „ „ „ » (2) 8,420 Bridgeport „ „ >i (3) 1,280 Sydney mines, submarine » (4) 3,200 Barasois „ „ „ » {^) 3,200 Lingau „ „ „ >» (6) Total 3,200 31,000 2. Quantity op Coal in above Areas.' In Area G. M. A. (1). Acres Thickness Tons In the Bonar Seam 294 7 3 3,197,250 „ Stubbert „ 890 7 3 9,678,750 „ Crawley „ 1,813 7 6 20,396,250 /-„ Mill Pond „ 4,099 -„ Black Rock 5,202 4 24,594,000; 4 31,212,000 „ Lloyd's Cove 552 6 4,968,000 Total , ,, Carried forward 94,046,250 ' Coal contained in seams less than four feet in thickness is not included. GENERAL MINIXG ASSOCIATION. 14: the Tons 94,046,250 ^ Cl4\i In the Main-G»¥e Brought forward Acres Thickness 150 6 1, .150,000 „ „ . . 2,154 4 12,024,000 „ Six-feet Seam Pillara 1,300,000 Indian Cove . G,498 4 8 45,486,000 In Area G . M. A. (2). Acres Thickunss Tons In the Carr Scam . . 280 4 1,680,000 „ Barasoia „ . 540 8 8 7,020,000 „ Dunphy „ . . 690 4 4,140,000 „ David „ . . 990 7 10,395,000 „ Main „ . . 1,840 8 8 23,920,000 TotftlH 155,106,250 - 47,155,000 In tlie Back Pit Seam „ Phelan „ „ Spencer „ „ McRury „ In Area G. M. A. (3). Acres Thickness 562 4 6 . 1,050 8 . 1,185 6 9 . 1,280 4 Tons 3,793,500 12,600,000 12,998,125 7,680,000 In Area G. M. A. (4). Acres Thickness In the Lloyd's Cove Seam 1,650 6 „ Main „ „ 3,200 6 Indian Cove >> 3,200 4 8 Tons 14,950,000 28,800,000 22,400,000 In Area G. M. A. (5) Acres Thickness In the Can* Seam . Barasois „ . Dunphy „ . David „ . Main 3,100 3,170 3,200 3,200 3,200 4 8 4 7 8 8 8 Tons 18,600,000 41,210,000 19,200,000 33,600,000 41,600,000 Totals carried forward L 2 37,071,625 66,150,000 154,210,000 459,692,875 148 SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY OF THE Totals brought forward In Area G. M. A. (6). In the Can* Seam „ Barasoia „ „ Dunphy „ „ David „ „ Main „ Acres Thickness . 2,480 4 . 2,720 8 8 . 2,900 4 . 3,110 7 . 3,200 8 8 Grand Total Tons 14,880,000 35,360,000 17,400,000 32,655,000 41,600,000 • • • Tons 459,692,87.", 141,895,00. 601,587,875 3. Real Estate. (Freehold.) Acres . 4,734 . 2,377 not leased .... 208 Lands outside limits of the Coal-field in various parts of" the Island ...... Lands containing Coal leased to the Association to others . » Total quantity of land belonging to the General Mining Association ....... j 13,35 4. Railways, Rolling Stock, Wharves, etc. There are at the Sydney and Lingan mines six miles of railway, five locomotives, and about three hundred coal waggons and trucks : eight loading berths at the Sydney and three at the Lingan shipping places: and several miles of light railway underground, with a full equipment of coal tubs and trams, at each colliery. Also about one hundred horses, of which about three-fourths are employed in the pits. 5. Fixed Steam Engines. ' Under this head are comprised two pumping engines of 240 and 150 horse-power ; two winding engines of 160 GENERAL ftUNING ASSOCIATION. 149 and 60 horse-power ; two cc/mbined pumping and draw- ing engines of 30 horse-power each ; two underground drawing engines of 30 horse-power each ; two sinking engines of 30 liorse-power each ; and one foundry engine of 24 horse-power which also works the lathes, planing- machines, boring mill, &c. ; making a total of eleven steam engines of an aggregate force of 814 horse-power. 6. Buildings. Consisting of 200 dwelling-houses for managers, clerks, overmen, and workmen ; twelve shops for engine-fitters, blacksmiths, and carpenters ; six stone and brick engine- houses ; one iron foundry ; twelve stables and barns ; six warehouses ; and four school-houses. In addition to the above there are, at the Sydney mines, cupola furnaces, lathes, planing and screw-cutting machines, a boring mill, a steam hammer, and all the tools and implements required in the construction and repairs of steam engines and other mining machinery ; and, at the Lingan mines a steam dredger for deepening the harbour, and a steam tug for towing vessels. It may safely be asserted that, with such extensive areas, containing some of the most valuable seams of coal in the island, and with such a complete plant and equip- ment, capable of raising any quantity of coal that may be required, the shareholders of the General Mining Associa- tion, as soon as they obtain a market for their produce, will again receive the dividends which they enjoyed before the abolition of the Eeciprocity Treaty. This market, it is confidently expected, will soon be obtained, as a re- solution admitting coal duty free into the United States, adopted by a large majority in the House of Eepresenta- tives, was only lost in the Senate owing to the want of time to discuss it immediately before the close of the last 150 SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY, ETC. session. This resolution, most probably, will be again brought forward in the early clays of the approaching session of Congress, and passed, to the advantage alike ol" the producers of coal in the British Provinces and of consumers in the great cities of the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. 151 CHAPTER Xn. PROGRESS OF THE COAL TRADE FROM 1858 TO 1870, INCLUSIVE. FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THE TRADE. Having in the last two chapters furnished the reader with brief descriptions of the present condition and capa- bilities oi the coal mines now open in Cape Breton, it is hoped that the information embodied in the Tables Nos. V. and VI., compiled from the annual returns of the Govern- ment inspector of mines, and other authentic sources, will enable him to form a tolerably correct idea of the great importance and progress of the coal trade since the year 1858, when the General Mining Association surrendered their rights to a great portion of the coal-fields ; and several new mines in consequence came into operation. The figures in the tables speak for themselves, but a few remarks will, nevertheless, be necessary to explain away some apparent anomalies. In the first place, going back to Table IV., it will be seen that, in 1857, before any new mines were opened, the total sales of Cape Breton coal, including small coal, were 126,549 tons, being an advance of 27,223 tons upon the sales of 1854, the last year previous to the admission of coal into the United States free of duty under the Eeciprocity Treaty. This advance, it must be observed, was almost wholly due to the increased consumption in the British Provinces, and not to the efiect of the abolition of the duty in the United States. 152 PROGRESS OF THE COAL TRADE 2. Up to the close of the year 18G1, the increase in the sales was not material, being only an advance of 27,073 tons upon those of 1857, mostly due to the intro- duction of Lingan coal into the New York Gas- Works, and a small export from the new mines, which, previously to the former date, had not got into full operation. 3. In 18G2,the exportation of coal from tlie new mines began to be sensibly felt, the sales having reached 30, 6 'J 9 tons. In the same year, the sales of the Sydney and Linganmin.es amounted to 145,874 tons, being an advance of 10,116 tons upon those of the preceding year. 4. During the years 1863, 1864, and 1865, rapid pro- gress was made in the sales of Cape Breton coal, wliicli advanced from 182,583 in 1862, to 424,552 tons in 1805. This great increase was, as will be seen by Table V., chiefly owing to the introduction of the new mines coal into the gas-works of the United States. The Lingan mines participated to a large extent in the active demand for gas coal, the sales having advanced from 4,942 tons in 1858, to 55,108 tons in 1865 ; but the Sydney coal being almost wholly used for domestic purposes, and unsuitable for gas-making, did not share in the pros- perity of the neighbouring mines ; on the contrary, the consumption of Sydney coal in tlie United States gradually declined, owing to the almost universal use of antliracite. The total sales of the Cape Breton mines in 1805 — tlieir most prosperous year — amounted to 424,552 tons, towards which the Sydney and Lingan contributed 163,687, and the new mines 260,865 tons. 5. After the expiration of the Eeciprocity Treaty in 1865, the sale of Cape Breton coal in tlie United States rapidly dechned to 355,000, 318,000, to 256,000 tons, in the years 1860, 1807, and 1808, resi)ectively. 6. During the last two years — 1809 and 1870 — there FROM 1858 TO 1870, INX'LUSIVE. 158 has been a slijilit improvement in the trade, altliough tlie duty has not been reduced. This apparent anomaly can be easily ex))lained. Previous to the year 1865, when coal was admitted duty free, the mining companies were able to sell their coal at remunerative prices ; but when the duty of live shillings per ton was imposed, it was found impossible to deliver the coal in the United States at such a rate as would secure a market without makinu; considerable reductions in the selling prices at the mines. In consequence of these reductions, some of the mines, which in former years paid handsome dividends, liave during the last three years made no profit whatever, but their owners have continued their operations solely with the view of retaining their customers, in the hope of being able, when the duty is taken off, to advance their selling prices. It is reported that some of the companies are selling their coal this year (1871) at six shillings per ton, which, it is presumed, can be done without loss; therefore, taking the average freight at ten shillings per ton, and the duty at five shillings, the coal can be delivered in the United States at twenty-one shillings per ton. When the duty is taken off, if the coal-owners raise their selling price to eight shillings per ton, which would leave a mode- rate profit, the coal can then be delivered in the United States at eighteen shillings per ton. We may therefore reasonably conclude that if the Cape Jketon mines found a market for 144,751 tons of coal (see Table VI.) in 1870 at a cost of twenty-one shillings, there is every prospect of selling a much larger quantity when the coal can be delivered at Boston or New York at the rate of eighteen shillings per ton. Since the abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty, the gas-works of the Unite! States have been supplied chiefly from the mines of rennsylvania, Mary- land, and Virginia, at an enhanced price to the consumers. ,.'!- 154 PROGRESS OF THE COAL T]{AI)E but, when colonial coal is admitted duty free, the coal- owners of Cape Jketon will be able to deliver their coal at lower rates, the cost of sea freight being considerably less than that of land transportation. This will naturally lead also to an increased consumption of coal, as gas- works will be established in places which hitherto have been debarred from using gas, owing to the high price of American coals. Independently of the increased demand which may be looked for in the United States, there is every prospect of a rapidly improving trade with the neighbouring British Colonies. By reference to the annexed Table VI., show- ing the quantity of coal sold in each of the colonies separately, it will be seen that the total sales of large and small coal amounted in 1870 to 171,727 tons, being an advance of 70,44G tons upon the sales of 1857, and more than three times the quantity sold in 1850. (See Table IV.) As Canada and Prince Edward's Island are quite destitute of coal, and New Brunswick and Newfoundland contain only some thin seams of no economic value, all these colonies must look to Nova Scotia and Cape Breton for supplies of fuel for steam, domestic, and manufacturing purposes. Canada, it is true, receives a considerable quantity of coal from Great Britain (131,000 tons in 1869), in the form of ballast for ships employed in the timber trade ; but this cannot last long, because the con- sumption of coal in England is increasing so rapidly that all the most accessible seams are nearly exhausted, and the selling price must advance in the same ratio as the difficulty of working. For the same reason, it is probable Cape Breton will ere long enjoy a share of the markets of the West Indies and South America, at present entirely supplied by Great Britain. In the year 18G1), the exports to those countries were as follows ; — FROM 1858 TO 1870, INCLUSIVE. 155 Tonfs To British West Indies . 131,961) ,, ForcifTu „ 3G9,7()3 „ Brazil „ 230,143 „ Uruguay . 167,821 „ Argentine Confederation Total 66,513 969,209 Cape Bn;tuii will, in thi peculiar advantt case, enjoy peculiar advantages trom her geogrjipliical position and the proximity of her mines to the seaboard. Situated, as a glance at the out- line map facing the title-page will show, in the centre of the colonies, and within a reasonable distance of the United States, the harbour of Sydney is undoubtedly destined to become the great emporium of the coal trade.* This harbour, universally admitted to be one of the best in America, has a clear width of two miles, and a depth of ten fathoms at its entrance. Five miles from the light- house, the main channel divides into two arms or branches, one running westerly, the other southerly, protected from the sea swell by sand beaches jutting out from each shore, which contract the channel to a width of three- fourths of a mile. These branches — each about five miles in length, would afford anchorage for all the navies of Europe. Everywhere within the beaches there is deep water close to the shore. Commodious wharves, in con- nection with the coal mines, have been erected at three * Tbe following table shows the distances from Sydney to some of the chief ports in the Colonies and the United States: — Miles From Quebec (Canada) 720 „ Miramichi (New Brunswick) ..... 800 „ St. John's (Newfoundland) 400 „ St. John's (New Brunswick) 640 „ Halifax (Nova Scotia) 240 „ Portland (United States) 580 ' ,, Boston ( „ „ ) 600 „ New York („ „ ) 750 ii! ! 150 FUTUUE PROSPICCTS places — one on the nortli, and two on the bouth side of the liarbour/ where vessels of the laro;est burthen ran load at low water.'"^ The harbour of Sydney, being free from rocks and shoals, and the dens(^ fogs which often envelope the southern coast of Nova Scotia, car be approached at all times without danger, and entered with every wind. In proof of tliis last assertion, it need only be stated, that, some years ago H.M.S. ' Wellesley,' of iSeventy-two guns, bearing the flag of the late Earl of Dundouald, beat up the harbour, from its entrance to the head of the south arm, against a stiff breeze directly ahead. Situated almost on the direct route from Europe t(j Canada and the United States, Sydney must soon become the great coaling station for steamboats, which will, ere long, entirely supersede sailing vessels for passengers and the conveyance of the more valuable class of merchandise. The only obstacle to the realisation of this object is the fact that the harbour is closed by ice during the months of February and March, and part of April ; but this may be overcome by supplying steamers during those months with coal from the Port of Louisbourg, which is open all the year, and only eighteen miles distant from the eastern portion of the coal-field. There is every reason to believe that, in the course of a year or two, an uninterrupted line of railway will be formed between Halifax and San Francisco, by the completion of the inter-colonial line, connecting the port of Hahfax with the European and North American Kailway. New York will, by this route, be brought twenty-four hours nearer to Europe than by the present lines of steamers running direct to ' The Glasgow and Cape Breton Mining Company are erecting a wharf, also near the town of Sydney, in connection with their works. ' The diflerence between high and low water is only six feet in spring tides. OF THE rOAI, TT?ADE. 157 11 s New York ; and as the gain of every liour is an object of great importance, a still further saving of six liours may be efTected by continuing the inter-colonial line from Pictou to Louisbourg — a distance of about one hundred and thirty miles. The opening of the navigation of the St. Lawrence to American vessels, under the Washington Treaty, will be the means of placing lines of steamers on the direct route from Chicago to England, wliich will find their advantage in coaling at Sydney on their outward and return voyages, as they can then carry much larger cargoes of merchandise, having, on leaving Liverpool, to take in only as much coal as will carry them to Sydney, where they will get a fresh supply to carry them up to Chicago and back to Sydney. By this arrangement, which will be highly advantageous to steamboat owners, the Sydney mines will supply two-thirds of all the coal required for making the outward and home voyages. By this arrangement they will also obtain the fuel required, at Sydney for eight shillings per ton, against at least sixteen shillings per ton in all the English ports, except those which supply steam coals, very few of which have any direct trade with the United States. It is needless to dwell upon the immense advantages which must accrue to the owners of the Cape Breton Collieries by this course of trade, and tiie great extent to which it may be carried. It is well known that coal is the basis of the prosperity of Great Britain, and of the success of her manufacturing enterprise, which has converted districts, once barely habitable, into seats of active and profitable industry.^ ^ Lancashire, which a few centuries ngo was looked upon as a kind of morass or waste, and one of the poorest counties in England, now, owing to its coal mines, has a population of 1,280 persons to the square mile, while the principal agricultural counties have only from 148 to 230 persons to the square mile. (■I ,t ' ■^ 1 158 FUTURE rRosPF.crrs When her conl seams are exhausted, llie bulk of lier population will be compelled to emigrate, while those who remain will have to live upon the cultivation of \ho soil. Professor Jevons, in a work ' On the Coal Question,' published in 1865, estimated that the rate of growth, at that period, in the aggregate annual consumption of coal, amounted to about three and a-half per cent, per annum, reckoning each annual percentage on the previous year's consumption. Calculating upon the consumption of 1865, namely 98,150,587 tons, he estimated that the whole quantity of available coal in Great Britain would be exhausted in 110 years. The Eo3''al Commissioners appointed to enquire into the matter have just published their report, in which they impugn Professor Jevons' estimate. They state that the total available quantity of coal in the United Kingdom is 146,480 millions of tons, which, according to the estimate of Mr. Price Williams, who has given great attention to questions of this kind, will be exhausted in 360 years. Although the exhaustion of the English coal-fields is still far distant, tI..o best and most accessible seams only have been worked, and have, in consequence, suflered great diminution. Those which remain must be worked at a greater cost, and coal can only be supplied to manufacturers at enhanced prices — prices liable to be still further increased by the action of the trades' unions, at present so rampant in Great Britain. If these unions succeed in curtailing the hours, and advancing the price of labour, it will be impossible for employers to hold their own in competi- tion with other countries, and they will be compelled to take their capital to America, where they will find more suitable places for pursuing their vocations in the vast, almost untouched, coal-fields of Indiana and Illinois. Happily, some may find their way to Cape Breton, only OF TTTE CO A' TRADE. 159 seven days distant from England, which ofTers most favourable conditions for the introduction of the cotton manufacture, possessing a healthy temperate climate, cheap food, a liardy industrious population, and vast deposits of coal of the best quality. Even at the present time, many articles of general consumption in the colonies may be manufactured and sold to advantage, being protected by a duty of fifteen per cent, on foreign pro- ductions. For instance, salt, an article indispensable in curing fish, might be made from the brine springs of St. Patrick's Channel, in the very centre of the prolific fisheries of cod, mackerel, and herring, in the seas which surround the island. The fishermen would then obtain their salt at first cost, unburdened with freight and expenses attending its importation from England, and the coal-owners would find a market for their surplus produce of small coal, now in a great measure unsaleable. The manufacture of iron might also be successfully established, for although no valuable beds or veins of iron ore have been discovered in the island, an inexhaustible supply of rich magnetic ore could be obtained from the extensive deposits in the rocks of the Laurentian series of Canada, between the river Ottawa and the Rideau canal. Great quantities of this ore are now sent by the Rideau canal to Kingston, and thence by lake and canal navigation to the iron-works at Pittsburg on the Ohio. Surely, it could be delivered at a less cost in the ports of Cape Breton, as the vessels employed in transporting it would have return cargoes of coal to Quebec, Montreal, and other towns on the St. Lawrence. With so many favourable conditions for the establish- ment of various manufactures, with cheap land in suitable situations for the erection of works, with abundance of timber, freestone, granite, limestone, and almost every 100 FtTTUnE PHORT'KrTS, ETC. articlo requirod in tlie eonstnirtioii of iiianufacturing premises, and, above all, with cheap tiiel of tlie best ({uality, there is every reason to conclude that ere long Cape Breton will become a prosperous mamifacturiiig country, and absorb the labour of its redundant ])opuIa- tion, now compelled to seek for employment in the United States and the neiuihbourin" colonies. Witli jill tliese advantages, in addition to its admirable geogra- phical position as a coaling station for steamers navigating the Atlantic, the island of Cape Breton, we may safely prophesy, will before long become one of the most prosperous portions of the New Dominion. -B. •ember 31, 1870. IGl 1 1807 18G8 1K6» 1870 Vnmnn nf CloUiGTloB i Laree 99384 Small Large Smnll a 1 3897 Lnitte 1 Smnll { 3747 I.arBC 1 1 102607 Small 6344 Sydney . . > 2434 93573 91986 Liiif^an . . 4 36995 156 20094 42 30147 230 25092 2652 1 Olaco Bay . > 49137 2889 47316 2403 28739 920 54378 140.'. Block II0U80 . ) 71149 77 36965 — 73933 — 40006 i Oowrio . , J 31875 6743 36676 10327 38303 11306 38178 14690 Caledonia . 32 — 9147 680 21622 1169 26805 1081 International . \ 18691 2116 4765 994 6285 1225 10040 — Victoria . 287 — 2400 120 4237 668 6144 844 New Campbelltown j 4900 162 1328 94 186 45 309 154 Collins . 288 60 483 23 13 3 40 — Acadia — — — — — — — — Matheson . 805 — — — 33 — — — Tracey . . i — — — — — — — — Ingraham . 43 — 40 — 40 — — — Clyde . . 3 236 17 800 61 2123 156 2125 — Schooner Pond . 2 — — — — 53 — — — South Head . 1 2^^ — 1863 8 300 48 — — Port Hood . 1) 4337 819 — — — — — — Black Rock 196 — 118 — 186 — — — Mabou -• — — — — — — — Broad Cove — — — — — — — — Chimney Corner 1 — 131 — 29? 40 — — Eichmond . :j 615 34 12 8 — — — — Sea Coal B&y . 318995 — — — — — — — Tons in each Year [ 15506 1 256317 18647 298478 19547 306624 27179 .,' •/■ i! 1; PROGRESS OF THE COAL TRADE, FROM If Table V. — Tons of Coal sold at all the Mines in Cape Breton, fro — 1 1 1S58 1859 18G0 1 ISfll 1802 18(;3 i 1804 1 1 Large 1 1 Small Larcc Small; 0239 Larue 111012 t Small 1 ) 6604 1 Lartse Smull 6738 Largo ISmall 1 1 108594 3087 Large 102785 Small Lar, . Siiial Sydney 93398 7474 103491 93720 i 1588 88025 55 Liiipan 3902 1040 8100 1199: 15G23 675 1 35102 198 1 33574 629 35907 152 44021 35 Olacf Bay 469 — 2373 — 2297 5208 336 7523 207 2Gi:09 515 67193 488- Block House — — — ■~ i 3598 1 138 7127 495 16809 135 15690 — 70650 — Orowrio 1 — 1 — — — 2196 680 11764 3306 22980 575! Caledonia. — — — 1 1 i — — — — — — — — — International . 69G — 1358 — 1937 — 1480 — 2262 280 3699 499 6719 — Victoria . — — — — — — ._ — — — — — — New Campbelltow-n . -- — — — — — — — — — 3542 426 7949 86; Collins — — 450 — 1474 46 3818 — 5925 525 3496 674 4886 6( Acadia — — 1 — — — — ^370 — ^303 ■' 726 57 — Matheson . — — — — — — — 1363 18 79 470 — Tracoy — — — — — — — — ~ 540 — 544 — Ingraham . — — t — — — — — — — 32 — — Clyde — — — — — — 30 — 484 24 4669 — Schooner Pond . — — — — — — — ^^370 — ^1303 57 6312 25 South Head — — — — — — — — — — — 162 — Port Hood — — — __ — — — — — — — — — Black. Lock — — — — — — — — — — — ^^ Mabou — — — — "~ — — — — — — — Broad Cove — — — — — — — — - Chimney Corner — — — — — — — — -_ — — Richmond — — Il — __ 30 — — — 888 211 2683 396 Sea Coal Bay . 98465 — — 7438' 136941 — — 7767. 177016 5567 219 208555 7620 )05 176 Tons in each Year . 1 8514 115772 7463 146455 327268 13075 M RADE, FROM 1858 TO 1870, INCLUSRE. IGl CajJe Breton, from January 1, 18o8, to Vcconhcr 31, 1870. 1863 1864 1865 ISCf 1867 i 1868 IHOD 1870 •ge Small 1 Lor, , Small Large Small ' Larsc Small LarKU Small : I-argc 1 Small i Lartrc Small ; : Large Small 785 1588 88025 555 106973 1606 i 107642 1520 99384 2434 93573 i 3897 91986 3747; 1026071 6344 907 152 44021 351 54886 222 50300 380 36995 155' 20094 42 30147 230 25092 2652 i:09 515 67193 4884 757H 6533 54000 3905 49137 28891 47310 2403' 28739 920 54378 1405 690 — 70650 — 91600 — 88849 1065 71149 77: 36965 — 73933 — 40000 — 764 3306 22980 5758 37204 6506 27442 5882 31875 6743 3G670 10327! j 38303 11306 38178 14699 - — — — — — lO — 32 — 9147 680, 21622 1159 •■"805 1081 G99 499 6719 — 10005 G369 9212 150.S 18691 2116 4705 994 6285 1225 10640 — — — — — — — — — 287 — 2406 120 4237 668 6144 844 542 426 7949 865 4717 372 7829 45;! 4900 162 1 1328 94 186 45 309 154 496 674 4886 66 2941 78 — — 288 60 483 23 13 3 40 — 303 57 — — — — — — — — — •""• — — — 726 79 470 — 822 — 625 — 805 — — 33 — — — 540 — 544 — 1854 13 7 3;i — — — ! — — "^ — 32 — — — — 25 — 43 — 40 ! 40 — — — 484 24 4669 — 8690 72 5949 6 236 17 800 51 2123 150 2125 — 303 57 6312 25 963 10 35 2 — — — 53 — — — — 162 — 1038 45 927 11 24 — 1863 8 300 48 i 1 — — — — 1533 148 2180 1381) 4337 819 — — — — — — — — — — — — 196 118 186 — : — — — — — — — • 1 """ 131 — 292 40 — — m 211 2683 396 2359 1002 14 3 615 34 12 8 — — — !19 — 557G20 1 105 175 100 117 — 1 I — 18G47 1 298478 — 306624 327268 13075 401459 11 23093 i " 35504GlG17i 1 318995 i 15506 1 256317 1 19547 1 1 27179 M TKOCniKSS OF niE COAL TKADi:, YV.OM Taiu.i; M. — Tims of Coal sold at each C^Uicni in Cape Breton in UuitC'iJ S* %tC5 West Indies i Canada N(!\v Brunswick Newfoiindii Xaiiios of Colliorios Largo Small Larpo Small Large Small Largi" Small Large S Sydney 1893 3333' 681 2703« 12945= — 1 33006 < Liiigiiii . . . 1 23199" 21 6G 186 1 — — 434 — — Vii'tiiria ' . 914 700 — 156 — 1479 — 209 Iiiuriiiitioual 10455'* — 185 — — — — — — Glace Bay . 41986'-' 884 2215 — 689 4 3538 "> 80 1012 Caleduiiia . 23870 '= 1027 180 — — — 2439 '3 — 30 Block lloiiso 37953 '* — 1221 — — — 1 — — Gdwrie 1 3856 >^ 9915'^ 3395 — ■ 8153'" — 617 — 6442'" - ch-ae 625 — — ; — — — — Now Campbelltown . — — — — — — — Ci)llins 144751 — — ^ — — — Total lo each Country 1 17325 , 8763 '1 — j 11701 4 21452 80 40699 8 ' Nearly all the Sydney small coal shipped to the United States is used by fixed steam-engines. , - Used for domestic purposes. ^ Used for domestic and steam purposes. * Nine-tenths used for domestic purposes — the remainder by steamers, chiefly French, '" Nearly all used for domestic purposes. " Used for gas-m.aking. " Used chiefly for domestic purposes. ' All used by the Now York gas companies. * Nine-tenths used by the New Yoik — the remainder by the Boston gas companies. '" Used for gas and steam purposes. " Used f " Used f lime burnin " Used f " Used i lime burnin •» Used f •« Used i " Used i N.B.-Al boiling. N . TRADE, FROM 18.58 TO 1870, INCLUSIVE. 1G3 hi Caj)c Breton in 1870, and Countries to which it was shij)pcd. lunswick 1 Newfoundlatiil 1 Trince Edward's Island Nova Scotia Cape Breton Total sold at each Colliery Small "> 80 13 Large Small Large Small 1 -urge Small 402 844 437 3503 Largo Small Large 102607 25092 6444 10640 54378 26805 , 40006 38178 2125 309 40 SmaU 33006 < 209 1012 30 6442'" 67 30 2979 » 952 614 99 226 320 57 i _ 1 840 46989' 229 2298 4839" 18 542 14883" 1500 271 40 1411' 92 74 42 290 612 37 2897 84 24 441 164 3600 6344 2652 844 1405 1081 14699 154 80 40699 87 5190 897 71609 5186 2458 306624 27179 y fixed "rench. lies. " Used for gas and house purposes. ^^ Used for gas-Tiiaking by the New York, Boston, and Cambridge companies, and for lime burning at Rockland, Maine. " Used for steam ptirposcs. " Used for gas-making by the New York, Brooklyn, and Boston companies, and for lime burning. " Used for steam purposes and lime burning. " Used for domestic purposes. " Used for stepm and house purposes. N.B.— All the coal shipped to the West Indies is used for steam purposes and sugar boiling. N W'' i. 165 MAPS 166 EXPLANATION OF MAPS. Explanation of the Map of the Si/dnei/ Coal Field. Strike of coal scams at high-water level Strike of suppobed continuation of coal seams Direction and angle of dip of coal seams Anticlinal and sectional lines Railways ....... Coal shafts and slopes . . . . . *'i.'. 8° General Mining Sydney Mines and Point Aconi Area, marked G. M.A. (1) Lingan Area, marked G. M. A. (2) Bridgeport Area, marked G. M. A. (3) Red y Coloured ww.it.«i/.i.VAA i; G. M. A. (4) l^K/^^mi. t.I.l\^ ^^1 Vtfcj 1 Lltii. 1V\^\^ LbV^Vi Barasois Submarine Area, marked G. M .A. (5) . Lingan >) >) >) >1 (C)J South Head Area, marked I. coloured Blue Tracey >) M II. )> >» Gowrie )) >) HI. )) Yellow Block House » n IV. )> Blue Acadia >) »> V. » Yellow Clyde >> )) VI. >) Blue Caledonia )) )) vn. )» Green Glace Bay >? » VIII. )5 Yellow International V » IX. )) Blue Victoria If » X. )> » Ingraham » » XI. )) » Collins >> )» XII. )) » Matheson ?> )) XIH. » Yellow Black Rock )> )» XIV. '» Blue New Campbelltown n n XV. 7) >i Glasgow a md Cape Breton Co.' S V . . . 7J Yellow s Explanation of Map facing Title Page. Chimney Corner Area, marked XVI. Broad Cove „ „ XVII. Mabou - „ „ XVIII. Port Hood „ „ XIX. Richmond ,, ,, XX. Sea Coal Bay „ ,, XXI. > Coloured Black i;w Upoltisivoodc d: Co., Printers, London and WtitlininsUr. ■M h M WVKay.,:i'>v»^*;r. ■•ilxi.tfi,..,.',,^^^^,-^ ., ,■„„,■,-., o LL rv t Oy C ro s •<«;;#■.■ jtiStiiAWir '■■2Sar_-a, Coal 1ft Coal 3.8 'M Winning CrajiberrjHead Point J\coiii rl.v»tiUpr, Zit^'u), B L s oi a. I It Ob ri 9 S cu 71' d o t o n e s North Sydney Caiholic ChapeL Stubberts Point BaiTingtoi FAm^i^ (©}£•' TMM 'rmuTM WM'ST smmEi: s A IV n. ' s M < '**''^ ' *. A ..j-J^S., ''mm^m:-^^ s Poirit Biurm&on Park 2 e 7h g t Ih of S e c t b o rv , 1^ rj; (^li-' ^TBHIKT MAIEil£3(i})W}Bi vu ro t Cb V TV 6' iciry Bloclclloasc Six Gun. Battery CluEKN Pit Lloyd's Cove F o vb r M L L a s I n 9 TV t S k Mow ri, t CO z TV s- Coal 6fV jr s t e- rrh jloyd's Cove JNfewWlNNING CrajiberTjliead : Point Aconi Jt.WeJiei', L\OiyO. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A HT ^ :a ill 1.0 I.I 1.25 25 1^ IIIIIM t \i^ 12.0 18 R mil 1.6 ^^ vQ A i9 V* >^ '/ k ^A? # %* 1^ M l\ TMIE W^HII'M ^l£i:®}EI£ ©ID* ILli:!:^ -.y«y)lfe!»W»WV*»^*' 7-^i:,!^siifKI^*-*^- -.«(W.W,>fttV**A-V'!'«i^vO.'. r'*'.^Va♦•^»«^WB **[«-;> '■•*'*■ '•'^■■j rSi<^~''" ■■^'^^^''^^f;- - RsLilw^ GoaJ' Pit Coal2.8 Coal2.3 Coal 8.8 Lion One Mile (fuel a Half. iL Well.T, I.UM^. V>-..,„, /■' !l V I V. , O.M.J. (^Z /lilt iifi'l-v ■S'iihnni\i-iiif .Ir, I'' t ^v^-^ ,^'L .'^.■' >^ >,- >^^' 1.:;: Jc \ ^ .--. .-^ J/4V" J J '-if*,.,/7 AHliCM; LROtt l.iMKJTONi ti-.iwft'y f'r V /■W..i->fw (i M A 7 / ,•/ 1/ w ;/ G M .' '5' ■S'li/intiif""' /Iret k CM A .«; Sifhuifiriin () '(• \i A ;t I!.,nl II.,,, I ologxJ . •■cy ci 1,'^ (i M A •' I*. / .•/ // !/ // ; r '. ,, .1- A-'-' f Vt -I /i -^ V / "1» **i't •i ; 1 ( V < */ il V / -^■V M A I' (>r ill. .^'JJjrflL'T COAX ir.'l 7.S ,-■ ;■.. ' f"f- '"■•»/^c EXX), '"'/ 1 o.ter ,;u