History of Northumberland Co., PA - Chapters 9-10



CHAPTER 9 - Pages 329-346
AGRICULTURE
PREPARATION OF SOILS THE RESULT ON REMOTE RATHER THAN IMMEDIATE AGENCY -
GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE - ANTICLINALS AND SYNCLINALS - SUBDIVISIONS OF THE
PALEOZOIC SYSTEM - LOCATION AND CHARACTERISTICS ON EACH STRATUM -
DEVELOPMENT OF THE FARMING INDUSTRY - CONDITION OF THE FARMING INTERESTS
IN l845 - AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES

   ALTHOUGH agriculture is prominently a calling in which results
represent the labor of hand and brain, the preparation and fertilization
of the soil, and therefore the success with which this avocation is
attended, are dependent far more upon remote than immediate agency. No
amount of care and skill in tilling the soil can compensate entirely for
lack of natural fertility and adaptiveness; the fair presentation of a
county's agricultural resources involves, therefore, the consideration
of its

GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE.(1)

   The external relief of the greater part of the country is caused by
the erosive action of the elements and the slow chemical influence of
the atmosphere upon a series of vast parallel undulations in the strata
that form the earth's outer crust. In geological nomenclature, these
strata are defined as anticlinal, synclinal, and monoclinal -
anticlinal, when the strata are bent convexly upward; synclinal, when
the strata are bent concavely upward; and monoclinal, when the strata
dip in one direction only. Many interesting examples occur in
Northumberland county, where the rocks are thrown so high as to expose
the Medina sandstone, the base of the Upper Silurian system, and into
troughs deep enough to preserve nearly the highest coal measures. In
passing across the county from north to south, the following anticlinals
and synclinals succeed each other: The White Deer (Watsontown)
anticlinal has its Origin in the mountains of western Union and Snyder
counties; it crosses the West Branch in the vicinity of Watsontown and
passes through the southern part of Delaware and Lewis townships.
   The Milton anticlinal, another of the great Buffalo mountain
anticlinals of Union and Clinton counties, crosses the West Branch at
the town of Milton and passes eastward through Washingtonville, Montour
county, just west of which it elevates the Oriskany sandstone and Lower
Helderberg limestone into the long, regular elevation known as Limestone
ridge, which begins at Chillisquaque creek in Montour county and extends
through Northumberland to the West Branch below Milton.
   The Lackawanna synclinal, which, at its maximum development in the
vicinity of Wilkesbarre, retains the entire coal measure series, changes
in extent and geological character to the westward, and, about the
center of Liberty township, Montour county, the Hamilton beds appear,
occupying the trough from that point westward through Pottsgrove to the
West Branch about one mile above Montandon. The westward ascent of this
synclinal axis may be appreciated when it is stated that a shaft in the
vicinity of Wilkesbarre would have to be sunk ten thousand feet to reach
the Lower Hamilton rocks exposed at Montandon.
   The Berwick (Montour) anticlinal, virtually a prolongation eastward
of that of Jack's mountain in Mifflin and Huntingdon counties, follows
closely the northern line of Point township through Northumberland
county under the local name of Montour ridge. The axis crosses the North
Branch about midway between Big and Little Wapwallopen creeks; Fishing
creek, one half mile above Bloomsburg; Mahoning, just north of Danville,
and the West Branch, at the mouth of Chillisquaque creek. Its structure
is very nearly symmetrical. Bordered on either side by materials which
yield readily to attrition, the low valleys thus formed increase the
height of the ridge by contrast. Between Mahoning creek and the West
Branch it reaches an altitude of one thousand feet above tide.
   The Northumberland synclinal is one of the most remarkable basins
which traverse Pennsylvania; it extends from Bedford county through
Huntingdon, Juniata, Snyder, Northumberland, Columbia, and Luzerne
counties nearly to the Lehigh river, a total length of one hundred fifty
miles. Part of this distance it forms the valley of the Juniata;
Middleburg is on its southern border and New Berlin on the northern. As
it approaches the Susquehanna from the west it begins to widen and
deepen gradually. Crossing at the confluence of the North and West
Branches, the general center line of the trough through Northumberland
county, may be said to run near Klinesgrove and Rushtown.
   The Shade Mountain (Selinsgrove) anticlinal crosses the Susquehanna
two miles below Selinsgrove, one hundred fifty yards south from the one
hundred thirty-fifth mile post of the Northern Central railway. Traced
east-ward, the main arch enters Shamokin township, continuing about a
mile south of Shamokin creek; it crosses that stream about half-way
between Reed's and Paxinos stations and passes through Ralpho under the
village of Elysburg. Several subordinate folds occur on its northern
slope and one on the southern.
   The Shamokin synclinal reaches its fullest development in the great
Shamokin coal basin. The center of this trough crosses the Susquehanna
two miles above Herndon, five miles in an air line from the crest of the
main Selinsgrove anticlinal. The basal members of the Pocono beds make
the summit of the mountain which is formed by the united rims of that
formation, and, from an abrupt beginning at the river, continue eastward
as the Little and Line mountains.
   The Tuscarora Mountain (Georgetown) anticlinal has a double crest,
there being a sharp, narrow, synclinal fold running along the center of
the main arch from Georgetown eastward to the western line of Jordan
township, where it flattens out. A subordinate fold of considerable
extent, crossing the measures two miles and a half below Georgetown,
completes the succession of anticlinals and synclinals in Northumberland
county.
   The Paleozoic system and its three general subdivisions - the
Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous - embrace the various strata of
this region. Pennsylvania geologists recognize thirteen distinct
formations in this system, numbered from I to XIII in order from the
lowest. Nos. I, II, and III are included in the Lower Silurian. The
lowest bed exposed in this county is the Medina sandstone (No. IV),
which occurs in the Upper Silurian, of which the remaining portions open
to observation are the Clinton Shales (No. V); Lower Helderberg
limestone (No. VI), and Oriskany sandstone (No. VII). Above these in
order occur the rocks of the Devonian system - the Hamilton and Chemung
slates (No. VIII), and the Catskill group (No. IX); and the basal
formations of the Carboniferous system - the Pocono sandstone (No. X)
and Mauch Chunk red shale (No. XI). As this chapter relates only to the
agricultural portion of the county, the rocks of the Carboniferous
system are here treated only incidentally.
   The Medina sandstone (No. IV) is exposed to view but once in
Northumberland county. This occurs in the extreme eastern part of Point
township, about two miles below Danville, where the North Branch,
veering northward, cuts a great hole from the southern face of Montour
ridge, exposing massive sandstone, greenish-gray and red in color, and
filled with small quartz pebbles.
   The Clinton shales (No. V) make a single belt across the county,
being thrown into a great arch along the line of the Berwick anticlinal
(Montour ridge).
   The Lower Helderberg limestone (No. VI), though not among the
geological factors of greatest prominence in the county, occurs at
various points and almost invariably denotes exceptional fertility. This
formation is elevated in Delaware township by the Watsontown anticlinal;
the line of its basal outcrop is just north from the east and west road
which runs from the mouth of Delaware run to the Warrior Run
Presbyterian church at the eastern line of the township. Southward from
Delaware run it is obscured by boulders and surface debris, and passes
into the air unobserved. Its course through Lewis is somewhat irregular,
the line of outcrop passing just south of Turbutville and crossing the
eastern boundary of the county near the southeastern corner of the
township. Quarries show their streaks of calcite, probably representing
the Bossardville beds. The dark shales of the Stormville beds also occur.
   Limestone ridge, the boundary of Turbut and Chillisquaque, begins
at Chillisquaque creek, just west of Washingtonville, Montour county,
and extends westward to the West Branch. This elevation is produced by
the Milton anticlinal. The Lower Helderberg, which forms the summit of
the ridge, reaches an altitude of six hundred fifty or seven hundred
feet above tide. It is the massive upper portion or Stormville limestone
that makes the crest of the ridge, while the Bossardville limestone
makes the steep northern slope in Turbut. The latter has been quarried
and burned at several localities.
   Limestone appears at two other localities in that part of
Northumberland county above the North Branch. Lower Helderberg crops out
in Chillisquaque township along the east and west road leading through
Montandon and Sodom; it has been quarried to some extent, and presents
many characteristics of the Bossardville beds. A Stromatopora bed (so
called from the nature of its fossils), is exposed in the vicinity of
this outcrop. The other outcrop of Lower Helderberg referred to crosses
Point township from east to west at the base of Montour ridge. Both the
Bossardville and Bastard varieties are here represented.
   Limestone valley, on the Susquehanna river in Upper Augusta
township, derives its name from the predominating feature of its
geological composition, the Lower Helderberg strata of the Selinsgrove
anticlinal. These incline at an angle of forty degrees on the northern
slope and twenty degrees on the southern. What is here denominated
Selinsgrove limestone is a light gray rock, with dull, irregular
fracture, interstratified with much shale. The corresponding shales are
represented in this section by a series of light gray beds. The
Stormville shale contains some impure, cherty limestone. The Lower
Helderberg begins with a bed of bluish-gray, impure limestone. The
Bossardville is most valuable for commercial purposes.
   The Georgetown anticlinal brings the Lower Helderberg to the
surface in Lower Mahanoy and Jordan townships; it has a double crest, of
which the northern only elevates the limestone within the limits of
Jordan. The rock is quarried and burned extensively for agricultural
uses.
   The pure limestones of the Bossardville group are everywhere abruptly
terminated below by a succession of buffish-gray, pale green, magnesian,
and otherwise impure limestones which have generally been considered as
part of the Lower Helderberg series, but which, from the fact that they
are immediately succeeded by other beds which characterize the Salina
series in New York, have been classified under that name by Pennsylvania
geologists.

   Three groups are recognized: the Upper Salina, consisting of the pale
green limestones and limy shales which invariably appear at the base of
the Bossardville beds; the Middle Salina, which consists of alternating
red and greenish shales, limestones, etc.; and the Lower Salina, a thick
mass of red rocks, usually rather sandy, and often found in steep
bluffs, especially where it is cut by streams. The latter variety is
very fully represented in the bluffs of Fishing Creek at Bloomsburg, and
from this circumstance is known as Bloomsburg red shale. In Northumberland
county the Salina beds border upon Montour ridge, making a continuous
valley on either side, that on the north in Chillisquaque township and
that on the south in Point; the variety in both instances is the Lower
Salina, or Bloomsburg red shale. The Upper Salina is brought to the
surface in Upper Augusta township by the Selinsgrove anticlinal, and in
Lower Mahanoy by the Georgetown anticlinal, but in both cases it is
restricted to an exceedingly narrow area. The pale green, impure magnesian
limestone, calcareous shales, and interstratified red beds of the Upper
and Middle Salina occupy the southwestern corner of Lewis and a
corresponding area in Delaware, brought to the surface by the Watsontown
anticlinal. The same formation is elevated in Turbut by the Milton and
Watsontown anticlinals and intermediate folds, which also bring up the
Bloomsburg red shale of the Lower Salina in a series of semi-ellipses in
Delaware and Turbut. The soil made by these beds, especially the Upper and
Middle groups, is exceptionally fertile; the topography is distinguished
by a prevailing softness of contour, and a large quantity of lime, as well
as other elements of fertility, are set free as the rocks decompose. The
broad, triangular area of the Salina beds, which, beginning just north of
the Milton anticlinal at the western line of Montour county, rapidly
widens westward, embracing Turbut and the southern portions of Lewis and
Delaware townships, is the richest agricultural territory of
Northumberland county.
   The Oriskany sandstone (No. VII), a formation of the Upper Silurian
system, is elevated by each of the five anticlinals that cross the
county. In Delaware and Lewis townships it is brought up by the
Watsontown anticlinal, and passes from the West Branch to the county
line in a general southeasterly direction, just north of the Lower
Helderberg outcrop and parallel with it. It makes the long southern
slope of Limestone ridge at the northern line of Chillisquaque township;
it is also found at the bases of Montour ridge, making a low ridge
through Point township, where its small, hard boulders occur in many
localities. The crest of the Selinsgrove anticlinal is formed of
Oriskany from the point where the Lower Helderberg subsides to Little
Shamokin creek; exposure to atmospheric influences has changed the
character of the rock quite perceptibly, bleaching it to a grayish-white
color and depriving it of its iron and lime components. The Oriskany of
the Georgetown anticlinal is quite massive, exhibiting much less of the
cherty character which distinguishes it farther north.
   Of the Devonian formations that occur in this county the most
widely diffused are the Hamilton and Chemung (No. VIII). Three types of
the Hamilton are recognized, distinguished as the Northern, Middle, and
Southern, corresponding to their relative geographical positions. The
first mentioned extends across Delaware and Lewis townships as part of
the elevation of the Watsontown and Milton anticlinals. In Lewis the
shales of the Hamilton are described as dark brown in color and nearly
horizontal; Marcellus black slates, & cognate variety, also occur. In
Delaware the Hamilton bottom rocks trend westward in the valley of
Delaware run from the township line to the forks of that stream, where
they veer northwestward into the valley of the West Branch. North of
this line the Hamilton beds stretch out into a broad valley varying in
width from one and one half to two miles, the northern margin of which
is identical with the northern line of the township for some distance
east of the river. The Hamilton rocks occupy a belt about two miles wide
across the central portion of Chillisquaque township, and are quite well
exposed in the vicinity of Fitzer's school house and the Evangelical
church, where dark brown shales crop out along the road. The Marcellus
black shale is also exposed. The formation is here the westward
extension of the Lackawanna synclinal. A belt also extends through Point
township and crosses the North Branch into Rush, from which it emerges
opposite Danville. In the latter township an exposure of the Tully
limestone of this stratum occurs; it has a dull gray or buff color
throughout on weathered surfaces, but in some of the layers a dark blue
is revealed on fresh fracture.
   The Middle type of Hamilton rocks may be seen on either side of the
Selinsgrove anticlinal. It differs from the Northern both in thickness
and composition, several new members being intercalated; of these the
most important is a sandstone which makes its appearance in the middle
of the Hamilton group, so thick and massive as to change entirely the
topography. Instead of the valleys that distinguish the Hamilton in
Chillisquaque and in Delaware and Lewis there is here a high ridge with
a belt of Hamilton on either slope and upon its crest, comprising the
larger part of Upper and Lower Augusta, Rockefeller, Shamokin, and
Ralpho townships, terminating at the county line. Shamokin creek passes
through this formation from a point near Paxinos to its mouth. The wide
valley of this stream is excavated in the Marcellus black slates and the
lower portion of the Hamilton. The Southern type is reached after
passing south from the Georgetown anticlinal, and extends into every
township in the county south of Line Mountain.
   The Hamilton beds, particularly as displayed in their Northern
type, are eminently a valley maker, since all of their components -
Genesee, Tully, Hamilton, and Marcellus readily break down and
disintegrate into soil, the quality of which is excellent, some of the
best farms of the county being situated upon this formation.
   The Chemung (No. VIII) beds cover a belt about two miles broad in
the northern part of Delaware and Lewis townships, extending northward in
an undulating plateau far into Lycoming county. A second belt is
distinguished in Point, Upper Augusta, and Rush. The range of hills
which incloses the valley of Shamokin creek on the north, extending
through Upper Augusta and the southern part of Rush, is of Chemung
formation; it is elevated by the Selinsgrove anticlinal, and has a
counterpart on the southern slope of that axis in the watershed that
separates Boile's run and Hollowing run. A continuation of the latter
ridge may be seen in the great cliffs of rock along the west bank of
Shamokin creek, between Paxinos and the mouth of Miller's run. Chemung
beds, brought to the surface by the Georgetown anticlinal, cover the
southern portion of Jackson and Washington, and a considerable part of
Upper and Lower Mahanoy and Jordon. This formation consists of olive-
green shale, which readily disintegrates when exposed to atmospheric
influences, crumbling into small chips and splinters which soon
decompose; or of dark gray, dark olive green, and brown sandstones,
sufficiently hard to make high ridges and a succession of ragged cliffs
wherever cut by streams. The base of the series rises abruptly from the
Hamilton beds, which always border it, and usually makes a high ridge of
rocky, barren land, deficient in many desirable agricultural components.
   The Catskill (No. IX) formation occurs in that part of the county
above the North Branch only at the site of Northumberland. At the
northern line of Upper Augusta these beds make lofty cliffs, dipping
rapidly into the Northumberland synclinal, which occupies the bed of the
river at this point. This synclinal spreads a comparatively narrow belt
of Catskill across Upper Augusta and Rush; the Shamokin synclinal causes
two narrow strips to cross the southern part of the county, one at the
northern base of Little mountain and one at the southern base of Line
mountain; while a narrow border fringes the extreme south boundary. The
character of the rocks composing this stratum is very changeable; in one
locality more than two thirds of the whole series may be massive
looking, greenish sandstones, with only thin beds of red shale
interstratified; while only a few miles distant the green sand-stones
disappear and in their stead are found very thick red beds. When shaly
and weathered down into a rolling topography, the Catskill beds make a
very good soil, which produces excellent crops of oats, grass, and corn,
and, when enriched with lime, very fair crops of wheat. Where the beds
become very sandy, however, and massive green sandstones predominate,
the country is barren.
   The Pocono sandstone (No. X) is the material component of Little and
Line mountains, the western rim of the Western Middle coal field. This
formation is pre-eminently the mountain maker of this region. It usually
begins at the top with a very hard grayish or yellowish sandstone, in
layers from one to three feet thick, which sometimes contain small
pebbles. Beneath this lie gray and green sandstones, interstratified with
occasional beds of shale. It is terminated below by a massive gray and
yellowish white conglomerate, and between this and the Catskill is a group
of rocks to which the name of Pocono-Catskill has been applied. The series
is exposed at three points in Northumberland county: once in Line
mountain, at the gap of Mahanoy creek; and twice in Little mountain, at
the gaps of Shamokin and Roaring creeks. At the latter exposures the
combined thickness of the Pocono and Pocono-Catskill beds is twelve
hundred feet, of which about seven hundred should be considered as
belonging to the former.
   The Mauch Chunk red shale (No. XI) forms the valley between Little
and Big mountains, drained in this county by the south branch of Roaring
creek, Trout run, Shamokin creek, and Zerbe run; and the valley of
Mahanoy creek, between the Shamokin coal basin and Line mountain,
embraced in Cameron and Little Mahanoy townships. In the latter it
possesses fair agricultural qualities.
   Besides the regular formations described, terraces occur at several
points on the rivers of Northumberland county, in which the soils of
several strata are combined. A vast deposit of water-worn boulders is
found along the bank of the West Branch near the northern line of
Delaware township, forming a series of terraces, three in number, the
first of which is a narrow shelf along the present channel, of which it
is the flood plain; the second, covered with sand and coarse gravel
rises abruptly from the inner margin of the first to the height of forty
feet above the river, and extends eastward in a nearly level plain a
quarter of a mile; the third rises with an almost precipitous escarpment
from the summit of the second to the height of one hundred seventy-five
feet above the river, spreading eastward in a gently rising plain, and
covered with a mass of boulders. This vast deposit of Pocono, Catskill,
Chemung, and Hamilton debris, piled up in a broad terrace along the
Susquehanna just where it emerges from the Chemung highlands, is
supposed to have been dropped in the eddy formed at the junction of the
West Branch with a great river flowing westward along the Hamilton
valley during the Flooded River epoch. The corresponding area in Lewis
also gives evidence of submersion; a thick deposit of transported
boulders occurs all over the Hamilton, Salina, and Lower Helderberg
formations, upon the tops of the highest hills as well as in the
valleys, usually resting in an admixture of clay or sand, and may
possibly have been dropped from floating ice, which, breaking off from
the northeastern glacier, carried the material of the terminal moraine
over the areas submerged by the Flooded River epoch. Terraces occur at
Northumberland, at the respective altitudes of twenty-five, fifty-five,
eighty, and one hundred seventy-five feet above the river. Two broad
terraces are seen along the North Branch in Point township, both covered
with sand and transported boulders, one at an altitude of four hundred
fifty-five feet above tide, the other thirty feet higher. A wide terrace
spreads out in the vicinity of Sunbury at an elevation of four hundred
fifty feet above tide; from the top of this a second slopes rapidly
upward; both are covered with small rounded boulders and have evidently
been the flood plains of the Susquehanna. In the vicinity of Georgetown
a broad, level terrace is seen at an altitude of one hundred twenty-five
feet above the level of the river, covered with sand and loam.

DEVELOPMENT OP THE FARMING INDUSTRY

   Whether the aggregate of capital invested, the amount of labor
employed, or the value of its products be considered, agriculture is
unquestionably a most important industry; and, from the period when its
pursuit was practically universal to the present, it has sustained to
every community the relation of a primary and ultimate source of wealth.
The dignity of the calling has been recognized in all ages; its quiet
amenities have been celebrated by the poet and artist since the dawn of
literature and art; men of ability and eminence in the cabinet or on the
field, at the bar or in the pulpit, and in every department of human
activity have been drawn from its ranks. And yet the history of
agriculture, although marked by a gradual and certain progress, is
singularly deficient in brilliant passages.
   Pioneer farming involved as a necessary preliminary the removal of
the forest. This was principally the accomplishment of physical force.
The trees were felled together in double windrows, and after being
exposed to the sun and wind several months became so dry that a fire
applied at one end would be driven by a proper breeze with incredible
rapidity, consuming the interlaced branches and leaving nothing but
charred and blackened trunks. These were usually brought together in
great heaps and submitted to the burning process until scarcely a
vestige remained. Another method was to fell the trees and after lopping
off the branches for firewood, drag the logs together and pile them in
huge pyramids, in which condition they were consigned to the flames.
Where the growth of timber was not particularly dense, much of the labor
was obviated by removing the underbrush and "girdling" the larger trees.
The bark was cut from the trunk of the tree in a section about a foot
wide, thus depriving the limbs and leaves of sap entirely, and as a
result the tree was dead within a brief period. The bark and smaller
branches fell to the ground, affording a valuable fertilizer, but the
trunk, white and ghastly by exposure to the weather, was allowed to
remain for years in many instances, until wood had acquired some
commercial value or the farmer was moved by a desire to improve his
land. Farming operations in a field where the trees had been girdled
were sometimes attended with distressing fatalities; rotten branches
were liable to fall at any time, and the close proximity of the plowman
and his team could not arrest the action of the force of gravitation.
   But if the work of clearing the land was protracted and laborious,
the virgin soil responded to the first effort at cultivation with a
profusion and liberality that compensated largely. The methods of
cultivation in vogue at that day were crude in the extreme. The principal
implement used in preparing the ground was a "drag" or triangular harrow
formed of two pieces of timber united in the form of the letter V; each
piece had a number of wooden teeth intended to grub up the soil so as to
afford a lodging place for the grain, but stones and stumps occurred with
such frequency that this purpose was only accomplished to a very limited
extent. The first crops consisted of corn, oats, wheat, and potatoes.
Corn was planted in hills and potatoes in rows, while wheat and oats
were sown broadcast and covered by dragging a treetop over the field. Of
the different cereals corn was most readily prepared for consumption or
sale and received a corresponding degree of attention. Husking was
sometimes done in the field but more frequently at the barn, and the
combined energies of the community were often brought to bear upon this
work. Grain was cut with a sickle. Harvest time was a season of severe
and protracted labor, and it would have been considered impossible to
withstand its requirements without resorting to a neighboring distillery
for assistance. The threshing and cleaning of wheat involved an amount
of labor utterly incommensurate with its marketable value. Sheaves of
grain were placed in order on a floor of puncheon or hard clay, where
the grain was tramped out by horses or threshed with a flail. This was
but one part of the work, however; it still remained to separate the
wheat from the chaff, and with no machinery save a riddle or sieve of
home construction, this was an almost endless task. Threshing frequently
required the farmer's time nearly the whole winter.
   As already remarked, the transition to present methods was gradual.
It would be impossible to indicate definitely the time when the sickle
was replaced by the grain cradle, or when the latter was superseded by
the reaping machine and binder. The plow, originally a ponderous
instrument requiring great strength in its manipulation and constructed
almost entirely of wood, received in succession an iron point, coulter,
and mould-board, the first stage in the evolution of the latter being a
sheet-iron sheath for the wooden mould-board. The windmill was the first
innovation for winnowing wheat; the next was a revolving cylinder to
take the place of the flail, and afforded an opportunity to utilize
horse power; the combination of these two machines, with such
modifications as experience has suggested and ingenuity devised, has
resulted in the modern threshing machine. The grain drill, at first
clumsily provided with an apparatus to regulate the amount of seed sown,
was introduced almost as soon as the general condition of the land would
permit its use. The mowing machine has taken the place of the scythe,
while the hay-rake, tedder, and hay-fork relegate much of the hardest
labor in connection with this department of farm work to the past. The
application of manure as a measure of restoring and sustaining the
fertility of the soil has been continued, but commercial fertilizers
have also come into general use as a means of further accomplishing this
purpose. Rotation of crops, scientific methods of drainage, and other
departures of a similar nature have followed as the natural result of
careful and intelligent experiment, placing the farming community of
Northumberland county in a position to compare favorably with any other in
this part of the State.
   The introduction of domestic animals into the region that now
comprises Northumberland county occurred before its settlement began.
Horses were first brought by Indian traders, and subsequently owned by
Shikellimy, his sons, and other Indians at Shamokin. After the erection
of Fort Augusta, cattle, sheep, and hogs were brought thither in herds
from the lower counties for the use of the garrison. The first settlers
usually brought only a few domestic animals with them. The number of
acres of improved land, and of horses, cows, sheep, indentured servants,
and slaves assessed in Augusta and Turbut townships - in the former,
1774; in the latter, prior to 1775 - which then comprised the present
area of the county, was as follows:-

Township  Acres. Horses. Cows.  sheep. Servants. Slaves.
Augusta    676     135   172      43      11       1
Turbut    2265     261   311      37      21       4
Total     2941     396   483      80      32       5

   The largest improved farms in Augusta township were those of Ellis
Hughes-forty acres, three horses, and eight cows; Charles Gough - thirty
acres, two horses, four cows, and ten sheep; John Clark - thirty acres,
two horses, three cows, and one servant; Samuel Weiser - thirty acres,
two horses, and three cows; John Shaffer - twenty-five acres, two
horses, and two cows; and Henry Oliver - twenty-five acres, one horse,
and two cows. The following is a similar exhibit for Turbut township:
William Plunket - one hundred fifty acres, four horses, eight cows, six
sheep, two servants, and one slave; Matthew Cunningham - fifty acres,
one horse, and two cows; Alexander Fullerton - fifty acres, two horses,
and two cows; Richard Malone - fifty acres, two horses, four cows, three
sheep, and one servant; John Neilson - fifty acres, three horses, two
cows, and one servant; James McMahan - fifty acres, three horses, three
cows, and one servant; John Murray - fifty acres, two horses, and two
cows; Charles Lomax - forty-three acres, one horse, and one cow; Paul
Geddis - forty acres, three horses, and four cows; Thomas Hewitt - forty
acres, three horses, three cows, and one servant; Robert Moody - thirty-
four acres, two horses, three cows, and one servant; Richard Irwin -
thirty acres, two horses, and two cows; David Chambers - thirty acres,
one horse, and one cow; David Carson - thirty acres, one horse, and one
cow; Thomas Jordan - thirty acres, one horse, and two cows; Thomas Lemon
- thirty acres, two horses, and three cows; John Montgomery - thirty
acres, two horses, four cows, and six sheep; Robert McCully - thirty
acres, two horses, and three cows; Barnabas Parson - thirty acres and one
servant; Philip Davis - twenty-six acres, two horses, and two cows, and
Adam Mann - twenty-five acres, two horses, three cows, and six sheep. In
the foregoing list the number of acres, horses, cows, sheep, servants, and
slaves accredited to each improved farm of twenty - five or more acres
is given
   The First Nurseries in Northumberland county for the propagation of
improved varieties of fruit trees were established early in the present
century. In an advertisement in the Northumberland Gazette of October
26, 1801, Robert Caldwell, of Limestone run, Turbut township, states
that he has "a nursery of young apple trees now fit for planting out, of
excellent kinds, both summer and winter fruit. The said plants are but
three years old and from seven to eight feet high. There have been one
hundred of them planted out last spring and all grow well. They will be
sold at six pence each plant." In the issue of the same paper for
October 23, 1802, Joseph Priestley, Jr. advertises a collection of the
best kind of apple, pear, plum, cherry, nectarine, apricot, peach, and
other varieties of fruit trees, procured from different parts of the
United States and propagated at his nursery in Northumberland.
   Condition of the Farming Interests in 1846.- The following extracts
from a report of the county commissioners to the State board of revenue
commissioners, transmitted under date of February 28, 1845, contain some
interesting particulars regarding the condition of the farming industry
at that time:-
   "We have made the following division of the lands in said county,
as follows:-

 Good,      11,780 acres, valued at $50 per acre $ 586,500.00
 Middling,  41,062   "      "    "   30  "   "   1,231,860.00
 Poor,     109,970   "      "    "   15  "   "   1,649,550.00
 Worthless, 51,810   "      "    "    4  "   "     205,240.00
 Total,    214,072   "      "    "              $8,673,150.00

   "The whole amount of acres of seated and unseated lands in said
county is:
  Seated     214,072 Acres,
  Unseated    72,945 Acres.
   "The above is as near as can be ascertained from the books.
   "We believe that the lands in said county have been assessed about
ten per cent. below their real values.
   "We believe that the price of lands in said county has declined at
least twenty per cent. in value within the last five years.
   "We do not believe that the canals and railroads, of the
Commonwealth have advanced or lowered the price of lands materially in
said county.
   "There has been no reduction made in the assessed value of the
lands in the several townships and boroughs in said county generally;
but the value has been reduced in some individual instances and raised
in others - with the exception of Turbut township being reduced one
fifth in 1842.
   "We believe there has been no increase in value of the unseated
lands in general by clearing and improvements; but on seated lands there
has been an increase of value by clearing and improvements, to what
extent we can not say.
   "Baltimore and Philadelphia are considered the principal markets
for the coal and produce of our county.
   "The average yield in our county is perhaps from ten to fifteen
bushels of wheat; rye, ten; oats, thirty; corn, thirty bushels, per
acre.
   "The price for agricultural produce in our county is as follows:
wheat, seventy-five cents; rye, forty cents; corn, thirty-three cents;
and oats, twenty cents, per bushel.
   "We have no cash market for the produce in our county; generally
the cost for taking our produce to a cash market is from fourteen to
sixteen cents per bushel.
   "The average price for stock is as follows: for horses, forty
dollars; cattle, ten dollars; sheep, one dollar and a half per head; and
hogs, three cents per pound.
   "The price of lumber in our county is about from seven to eight
dollars per thousand; iron, none; limestone and salt, none; coal at the
pit's mouth is worth about one dollar and a quarter to send to market.
   "The lands in our county will yield a rent of about five and one
half per cent. on the assessed value, and on the selling value five per
cent."

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES

   The Northumberland County Agricultural Society (the first of that
name and the first in the county) was organized on the 24th of May,
1851; the following is a transcript of the minutes, the original of
which is yet in possession of W. I. Greenough, the first secretary:-
   Pursuant to public notice, a large number of farmers and others
assembled at the court house in Sunbury on Saturday, the 24th instant,
at two o'clock p. m., for the purpose of organizing an agricultural
society for the county of Northumberland. On motion of the Hon. George
C. Welker, Samuel Hunter was appointed president, and on motion of
William L. Dewart, the meeting was organized by the appointment of the
following officers:-
   President, Samuel Hunter.
   Vice-Presidents: George C. Welker, Peter Oberdorf, Jacob Seasholtz,
J. W. Leighon, Jacob Hilbush, Amos E. Kapp.
   Secretaries: W. I. Greenough, William B. Kipp, David Taggart.
   The president, on taking his seat, returned his thanks for the
honor conferred upon him, and briefly stated the object of the meeting.
   On motion of David Taggart, a Committee of five persons was
appointed to prepare and report a constitution for an agricultural
society for Northumberland County; the president appointed the
following: David Taggart, William B. Kipp, James Cameron, Samuel John,
and Alexander Jordan. The committee, after some delay, reported the
following constitution, which was read and unanimously adopted.
   The Constitution was then signed by the following members: M. Barnhart,
David Taggart, William B. Kipp, W. I. Greenough, James Cameron, Alexander
Jordan, Jacob Seasholtz, Jesse C. Horton, Peter Oberdorf, Amos E. Kapp,
Samuel Hunter, Samuel John, George C. Welker, Jacob Hilbush, J. B. Masser,
J. W. Leighon, William McCarty, Joseph Weitzel, William L. Dewart, Hugh
Bellas, William D. Gearhart, Martin Gass, Philip Renn, George Conrad,
Charles Weaver, Robert Campbell, Joseph H. Priestley, Elida John, C.
Bower, Thomas H. Watts, Elias Brosius, John B. Heller, Charles Gobin, G.
M. Yorks, James Covert, John P. Pursel, Francis Gibson, and William H.
Leighon,
   On motion, it was resolved that all the editors of newspapers published
in the county be members of this society.
   The society then proceeded to an election of officers for the ensuing
year, and the following persons were elected:-
   President, Samuel Hunter, of Upper Augusta.
   Vice-Presidents: James Cameron, of Chillisquaque; Joseph H. Priestley,
of Northumberland; George C. Welker, of Sunbury; Jacob Seasholtz, of Upper
Augusta; William B. Kipp, of Rush; Jacob Hilbush, of Jackson; John
Montgomery, of Lewis.
   Recording secretary, W. I. Greenough; corresponding secretary, David
Taggart; treasurer, William L. Dewart; librarian, William McCarty.
   On motion, committees for each township in the county were appointed to
obtain members for the society; the chair appointed the several committees
as follows:-
   Lewis.- John Montgomery, William Tweed, Ken Reepert, Michael Reader.
   Delaware.- Jacob Stiltzel, John Kase, John McCormick, John F. Dentler,
Elijah Crawford,
   Chillisquaque.- John H. Vincent, William Nesbit, Reuben Troxel, John
Voris, James Cameron,
   Turbut.- William Follmer, Charles Riddle, Anthony Armstrong, Philip
Billmyer.
   Milton.- James Pollock, Samuel Binn, Thomas Mackey, William McCleery,
Samuel Hepburn.
   Point.- Joseph Van Kirk, Jesse C. Horton, Anthony Watson, W. H.
Leighon, Thomas H. Watts.
   Northumberland.- Amos E. Kapp, Joseph H. Priestley, David Taggart,
Charles Kay.
   Sunbury.- George Weiser, William McCarty, Alexander Jordan, William
L. Dewart, Benjamin Hendricks.
   Upper Augusta.- James Funston, Elisha Kline, Jacob Eckman, Jacob
Seasholtz.
   Lower Augusta, George Conrad, Samuel Lantz, John Yordy, Thomas Snyder,
Joseph Weitzel.
   Rush.- William D. Gearhart, William H. Kase, William G. Scott, James
Eckman, Charles Kase.
   Coal.- William Fagely, Daniel Evert, William M. Weaver.
   Little Mahanoy.- George Peifer, Jacob Raker, Daniel Dornsife, Peter
Sholly.
   Jackson.- Jacob Hilbush, William Deppen, William Zartman, Daniel
Hilbush, John Wert.
   Upper Mahanoy.- Daniel Hine, Felix Maurer, Peter Beisel, Peter Brosius.
   Lower Mahanoy.- George Brosius, Michael Lenker, Jacob Spatz, Adam
Bingeman.
   Shamokin.- Jacob Leisenring, William H. Muensch, H. H. Teats, Samuel
John, David Martz, George Mills.
   Cameron.- George Long, David Billman, John Hine.
   The society then proceeded to an election of managers for the ensuing
year, and the following persons were duly elected: Rush, James Eckman;
Shamokin, Samuel John; Upper Augusta, Peter Oberdorf; Lower Augusta,
George Conrad; Coal, William Fagely; Jackson, William Deppen; Upper
Mahanoy, Benneville Holshue; Lower Mahanoy, Michael Lenker; Little
Mahanoy, Isaac Raker; Cameron, George Long; Sunbury, Alexander Jordan;
Northumberland, Amos E. Kapp; Point, Jesse C. Horton; Chillisquaque, John
B. Heller; Delaware, Henry J. Reader; Turbut, Charles Riddle; Lewis,
Samuel Sherman; Milton, James Pollock.
   On motion, it was resolved that the proceedings be published in the
several papers of the county.
   On motion, it was resolved that the recording secretary send to each
member or the township committees a paper containing these proceedings.
   On motion, the society adjourned to meet again at the court house on
the first Monday of August next at two o'clock P. M.
        W. L GREENOUGH,
          Secretary.
   The first fair(2) was held on the 17th of October, 1851, on land of
W. L. Greenough at the upper end of Second street north of Race. The
grounds embraced about four acres, and were surrounded by a post fence;
by the terms of the constitution, only members were permitted to make
exhibits, which were required to be produced or manufactured in the
county; each exhibitor was charged for the privilege of making such
exhibit, and from the funds thus accruing and annual membership dues the
premiums were paid. The grand jury room in the "state house" was used
for the exhibit of needle work, fancy goods, and similar articles. The
first fair was largely attended, and was regarded as a complete success;
but the exhibits were principally from the northern part of the county,
and the payment of bridge toll caused many citizens of that section to
refrain from attending after the first enthusiasm had abated, and
although fairs were held in 1852, 1853, 1851, and 1855, the enterprise
languished, and in 1856 the place of holding the exhibitions was changed
to Milton, where a local organization of some strength was developed,
and fairs were held annually for some years; in 1868 the exhibition was
removed to Turbutville, but the length of time it was continued there
has not been ascertained.
   The Augustaville Farmers and Mechanics' Association was organized
on the 1st of January, 1870, with Elias Emerick, president; S. H.
Zimmerman, vice-president, and W. H. Horning, secretary. The word
"Horticultural", also appears in the title a short time later. It has
not been ascertained how long the association sustained an active
existence.
   The Northumberland County Agricultural Society was incorporated,
November 17,1871, with the following officers: Joseph Bird, president;
John McFarland, vice-president; G. W. Armstrong, secretary; Lemuel
Shipman, corresponding secretary; J. H. McCormick, treasurer, and John
H. Vincent, assistant recording secretary. Grounds were leased from the
Northern Central Railway Company at Sunbury and buildings erected thereon,
but the enterprise does not appear to have been a success.
   The Union Park and Agricultural Association was organized, April 7,
1873, with Solomon Malick, president; Isaac Campbell, vice-president;
Philip H. Moore, recording secretary; Lemuel Shipman, corresponding
secretary; George B. Cadwallader, treasurer, and William A. Sober,
librarian. The buildings erected at Sunbury by the Northumberland County
Agricultural Society (the second of that name) were secured, and the
first fair was held in October, 1873, when the gross receipts amounted
to twenty-three hundred dollars, of which thirteen hundred were paid out
in premiums. The fairs were continued as late as 1878, and perhaps
longer.
   The Milton Driving Park and Fair Association was organized in 1885
with the following officers: president, W. Kramer; vice-president,
Samuel Hoffa; secretary, W. B. Chamberlin, and treasurer, W. A. Heinen.
The grounds comprise twenty-five acres, of which seven are owned by the
society. The first fair was held, October 14-17, 1885; the exhibitions
have since been continued annually. The constitution prohibits any form
of gambling whatever, and the fairs of this society have maintained a
high moral character throughout. It is recognized by the State
Department of Agriculture as the county fair for Northumberland county,
and receives the annual appropriation provided by law.
   The Shamokin Agricultural and Driving Park Association was organized on
the 1st of April, 1889, with George S. Fisher, president; M. H. Kulp,
secretary, and John Schabo, treasurer, who, with John Mullen, Edwin
Ludlow, William Beury, John P. Helfenstein, Joseph Wolf, and Darlington R.
Kulp, (elected April 5th), constituted the first directory. The
association was incorporated, May 6, 1889, with an authorized capital of
ten thousand dollars. The first races occurred on the 8th of August, 1889,
and the first fair, September 10-14, 1889. The grounds are situated in
Ralpho township, two miles from Shamokin; the improvements include a half-
mile track, stables, and a road-house.

(1) The facts presented in the treatment of this topic have been derived
from Report G, of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, by I. C.
white.

(2) In 1802 a supplement to the charter of the borough of Sunbury was   
secured, authorizing the holding of annual fairs, and Theodorus Kiehl,
chief burgess, advertised in the Northumberland Gazette that the first
fair would be held on the 2d and 3d of November in that year, when
"persons wishing to dispose of horses, cattle, wagons, cart, or farming
utensils of any kind" were assured of sufficient accommodations. This
was, in the sense in which the word was then used, the first fair in the
county.



CHAPTER 10 - Pages 347-357
THE SHAMOKIN COAL FIELD
IMPORTANCE OF COAL - ITS LOCATION - NAMES OF THE VEINS - THEIR POSITION
AND CHARACTER - A WALK FROM THE WEIGH SCALES TO THE CAMERON COLLIERY -
ASCENT OF THE GREAT CULM BANK - A TALE WITH THE INSIDE FOREMAN ABOUT THE
COAL FORMATION - FURTHER DESCRIPTION OF THE SIXTEEN VEINS FOUND IN THIS
REGION - A SECTION OF THE MEASURES - DEPTH OF THE SHAMOKIN COAL BASIN -
A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DISTRICTS AND BASINS - PRODUCTION OF THE
THREE DISTRICTS - THE QUESTION, "How LONG WILL OUR COAL SUPPLY LAST?"
ANSWERED.

By Dr. J. J. JOHN

   ALTHOUGH the United States is noted for the great variety and
abundance of its productions, yet without the aid of this valuable fuel,
how could these products he converted into the means of comfort and
wealth? Without the use of coal how could we now carry on our business
in all its varied departments? How could we put to work the thousands of
our people in manufacturing the many articles and implements that we
need in extending our dominion over our wide domain? How could we
furnish the necessary power to aid skill, enterprise, and capital in its
efforts, were it not for the "black diamonds" that lay hidden beneath
our soil?
   Coal is indeed the foundation of our prosperity and civilization.
It is the most important factor that we possess to furnish power. Its
value to the country is beyond all calculation. Its sudden loss would be
irreparable. It is said that three hundred pounds of coal will produce
power equal to the labor of one man for one year. By the census of 1880
we are informed that the annual production of coal at that time was
seventy million tons. Apply forty million tons of this to heating and
lighting and the smelting of metals, and the balance to furnishing motor
power, and we will have the work of two billions of men performed
without the tax of food and clothing.
   The wealth and prosperity of a country depend largely upon the
abundance of coal. Pennsylvania with her large supply of mineral fuel is
far more wealthy than those countries that abound in the precious
metals. Professor Newberry says:-
   By the power developed from coal all the wheels of industry are
kept in motion, commerce is carried with rapidity and certainty over
all portions of the earth's surface, the useful metals are brought from
the deep caves in which they have hidden themselves, and are purified
and wrought to serve the purposes Of man. By coal, night is converted
into day, winter into summer, and the life of man, measured by its
fruits, greatly prolonged. Wealth, with all the comforts, the luxuries,
and the triumphs it brings, is its gift. Though black, sooty,, and often
repulsive in its aspects, it is the embodiment of a power more potent
than that attributed to the genii. Its possession is, therefore, the
highest material boon that can he craved by a community or nation.

"Dark anthracite! that reddenest on my hearth,
Thou in those inland mines didst slumber long,
But now thou art come forth to move the earth,
And put to shame the men that mean thee wrong;
Thou shalt be coals of fire to those that hate thee
And warm the shins of all that under-rate thee.

"Yea, they did wrong thee foully- they, who mock'd
Thy honest face and said thou wouldst not burn,
Of hewing thee to chimney-pieces talked,
And grew profane - and swore, in bitter scorn,
That men might to thy inner caves retire,
And there, unsinged, abide the day of fire.

"Yet is thy greatness nigh. Thou too shalt be
Great in thy turn - and wide shall spread thy fame
And Swiftly - farthest Maine shall hear of thee,
And cold New Brunswick gladden at thy name,
And, faintly through its steels, the weeping isle,
That Sends the Boston folks their cod, shall smile.

"For thou shalt forge vast railways, and shalt heat
The hissing rivers into steam, and drive
Huge masses from thy mines, on iron feet
Walking their steady way, as if alive,
Northward, till everlasting ice besets thee,
And south, as far as the grim Spaniard lets thee.

"Thou shalt make mighty engines swim, the sea,
Like Its own monsters that for a guinea,
Will take a man to Havre - and shall be
The moving soul of many a spinning jenny,
And ply thy shuttles, till a bard can wear
As good a suit of broadcloth as the may'r."

   Nearly all the anthracite coal of America, of which over thirty-five
million tons are now annually mined and shipped, comes from one small
district in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. The several coal fields that
constitute this district and furnish the enormous tonnage just named, if
brought closely together would represent a small space on the map of our
State. It would only be a little section of mountainous territory, about
twenty miles wide and twenty-five miles long, giving an area of five
hundred square miles. This territory represents about one ninety-secondth
part of the entire area of the State, and is not much larger than our own
county, which contains four hundred sixty square miles. This anthracite
territory lies between the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers and is
principally included in the counties of Northumberland, Schuylkill,
Dauphin, Columbia, Carbon, Luzerne, and Lackawanna. The reader, on first
reflection, will hardly believe that such vast wealth and such large
annual outputs can possibly be drawn from so small a action of country,
with an acreage barely sufficient to form a county of moderate size. But
on careful reference to maps and reports he will find the statements are
correct and will soon come to the conclusion that the anthracite coal
region, though barren and forbidding in appearance, is really the richest
section of our Commonwealth.
   Different authorities have given different divisions of the anthracite
region, but they are practically the same in results.
   The following division in five distinct coal fields, with square
miles and tonnage, is thought to he as satisfactory as any:-

1st, or Southern coal field, 140 sq. mi., 10% of production.
2d, or Northern coal field, 200 sq. mi., 50% of production.
3d, or Western Middle coal field, 90 sq. mi., 25% of production.
4th, or Eastern Middle coal field, 40 sq. mi., 15% of production.
5th, or Western Northern coal field, 30 sq. mi.
Total 500 sq. m. 100%.

   The third, or Western Middle coal field, is composed of two parts,
the Mahanoy or Eastern district of forty square miles and the Shamokin
or Western district of fifty square miles. The Shamokin district, the
part that is treated of in this chapter, embraces that portion of the
Western Middle coal field that is in Northumberland county, and
represents about one tenth of the entire anthracite region. This
territory is contained in Coal, Mt. Carmel, and Zerbe townships, with
outcrops of the Buck Mountain and Lykens Valley veins in Cameron
township. The greater part of this district is drained by Shamokin creek
and its tributaries. This district is divided by several anticlinals
into a number of basins, of which more will be said in another part of
the article. The Shamokin coal district is bounded on the north by the
Big mountain, and on the south by the Locust and Mahanoy mountains. It
is about two and one half miles in width and twenty miles in length,
extending from the county line on the east to a point about two miles
west of Trevorton, where the basin terminates and the underlying Mauch
Chunk red shale comes to the surface. There are some sixteen veins found
in this district, the average total thickness of which is said to exceed
sixty feet.

NOMENCLATURE OF VEINS

   It is thought proper at this point to give the names of the coal
seams that are found in our region. Professor Lesley states that it is
useless and impossible, until we are better acquainted with the subject,
to prepare a nomenclature that will satisfactorily apply to all the
anthracite coal fields. The writer has adopted the plan used by the
Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, believing it to be the
best adapted for the present purpose. In this plan the seams are
designated by numbers, to which are added the local names given to them
in Schuylkill county and Shamokin.
   Beginning at the top of the coal formation in our region and
descending to and into the conglomerate the nomenclature will appear as
follows:-
  
No. 17, Little Tracy.       No. 8, Mammoth-Lower Split or Daniel.
 "  16, Tracy.              "   7, Skidmore or Tape Vein.
 "  15, Little Diamond.     "   6, Seven Feet.
 "  14, Diamond.            "   5, Buck Mountain.
 "  13, Little Orchard.     "   3 and 4, Lykens Valley - Upper.
 "  12, Orchard.            "   1 and 2, Lykens Valley - Lower.
 "  11, Primrose.           Pottsville Conglomerate
 "  10, Holmes or Church    Mauch Chunk Red Shale
        or Black Heath.     Pocono Sandstone.
 "   9, Mammoth-Upper
        Split or Crosby.
        Mammoth-Middle
        Split or Lelar.

POSITION AND CHARACTER OF THE VEINS AT SHAMOKIN

   In order to obtain a clear idea of this subject, suppose we start
at the Weigh Scales, located in the gap of the Little mountain. This
mountain represents the No. X or Pocono sandstone formation, the
outermost rim of the Shamokin coal basin, which at this point is about
six hundred feet in thickness. Crossing over to the roadbed of the
Reading railroad, we will leisurely pursue our course towards the city
of Shamokin. In so doing we will cross diagonally a narrow valley (Brush
valley), which lies between Little and Big mountains. This represents
No. XI or the Mauch Chunk red shale, and is the filling between the
outer and inner rims of the coal basin. The thickness of this red shale
filling is supposed to be two thousand feet. Proceeding on towards
Shamokin, we leave this valley and enter the gap of the Big mountain.
One of the finest opportunities for the study of geology of the coal
formations is now presented to us. The Shamokin creek, which has its
source in the eastern part of the basin, and in its course thus far has
followed the great trough of coal, here suddenly deflects to the north
and breaks through the two rocky barriers of the coal basin and makes
its way through older formations to the Susquehanna. At this point we
have the east and west walls of the Big mountain to study. Here, as we
leave the red shale, we meet No. XII, the Pottsville conglomerate, the
inner rim of the basin, which here measures about six hundred feet in
thickness. At this point the measures are so well exposed by the grading
of the Reading railroad and the improvements of the Cameron colliery
located here, that but little difficulty is met in studying their
general character. We here find that the rocks have a south pitch from
forty to fifty degrees.
   While Standing at this point we will notice that the veins at
Shamokin may be divided into three series, as follows:
   1st. - The underlying veins of Lykens Valley and Buck Mountain
represented by Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 imbedded in the Pottsville
conglomerate.
   2d. - The middle veins, consisting of the Seven Feet, Skidmore, and
Mammoth, being 6, 7, 8, and 9, lying between the Pottsville conglomerate
and an upper small pebble conglomerate.
   3d. - The upper lying veins, consisting of the Holmes, Primrose,
Orchard, etc., lying between the small conglomerate, and the slates and
shales for covering.
   The first and third series are principally red and pink ash, and
the second series white or gray ash.
   While standing here we notice that the northern outcrop of the
Lykens Valley takes place on the crest of the Big mountain, and a short
distance down on the south side the Buck Mountain comes to the surface
and disappears. Lower down the mountain the outcrops of the Skidmore,
Mammoth, Holmes, Primrose, and Orchard will successively appear in
regular order.
   A few hours spent at this interesting geological point, in company
with some intelligent miner, will afford the student a better and more
practical knowledge of our coal formation than days spent in poring over
works that treat learnedly upon the subject, but often only to confuse
the reader. Mr. William H. Marshall, a prominent practical geologist of
this region some forty years ago, remarked to the writer, that the best
lessons he ever had on the coal measures were obtained in a similar
manner.
   The lowest depth of coal formation in the Shamokin district is said
to be at or near the gap, in Shamokin, though some experienced miners
contend it is at the Henry Clay basin. The depth of the coal basin at
Shamokin is supposed to exceed one thousand seven hundred feet below
water level, to which add the vertical height of Big mountain of eight
hundred feet more will give clear run of two thousand five hundred feet.
The level of the creek at the Cameron colliery is six hundred ninety
feet above tide, and the top of Big mountain at this point is eight
hundred ten feet above the creek.
   The reader now, in company with the experienced inside foreman,
will be asked to ascend the great culm bank that stands at the Cameron
colliery, and which so well represents the enormous wastage that is
connected with mining. This towering pile of flue coal, slate, and dirt
is of itself a curiosity, an object that never fails to attract the
attention of strangers on their first visit to our city. The ascent is
steep, but, by gradual stages of walking and rest, the summit is
reached. But what a scene is spread before his eyes! Surprise and
pleasure will greet him at one and the same time. A large section of the
Shamokin coal field will lay spread out before him, divided into basins
and sub-basins, showing surface and contour, elevation and depression,
dips and saddles, as fully in many respects as if drawn from maps and
books. The view will be a perfect object lesson in geology. His miner
teacher will now commence his instruction to an interested pupil with
only the book of Nature to study from. Only a brief abstract of this
lesson can be given in this article.
   His attention will be first called to notice the many breakers that
can be seen from this point, made prominent in the distance by the
ascending columns of steam from their works. Here at the base of the
bank is the Cameron, one of the finest breakers in the region. Looking
southward and westward, the Neilson, Bear Valley, Burnside, and others are
to be seen. Turning more to the east, the Henry Clay and Buck Ridge are to
be seen in the distance, and still further eastward, the Luke Fidler,
Enterprise, and other collieries may be partly discerned.
   The story of the coal formation of this region will then be told,
illustrated by objects that meet the vision on every side. Looking to
the south, the entire basin will be seen spread out as a panorama, and
turning east and west a large portion of the great coal trough can be
examined by the eye. Shamokin as a town, with its fine churches and
school houses, will be lost sight of, and only referred to occasionally
as a reference of location, while the great work of Nature in her
wonderful storage of fuel, will be talked about. Again he will be
reminded that he is in a great trough or basin in which are stored away
some sixteen layers of coal, of various thickness, at different depths,
with the lowest seam far down in the solid rock at least two thousand
five hundred feet from the present point.
   He will be told that this storage of fuel is protected on its sides
and bottom by a massive rim of conglomerate of some six hundred feet in
thickness, and extending down in the earth about seven hundred feet
below the sea level. His attention will then be called to a hill south
of the Shamokin cemetery, on the Bellas tract, now occupied by the
Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. His companion will state
that this hill is one of the highest points in the State, though not
more than one thousand two hundred feet above tide. He will wonder at
this, as the elevation is not greater than at the point he stands on,
and considerably lower than some of the mountains around him, and he
will question the correctness of the statement. He will be answered that
the height is meant in a geological sense and not a physical one. The
mountains at Hazelton have a much greater elevation above the level of
the ocean, but in the coal formation are much lower than this hill and
do not possess the upper coal measures. Here on this hill all the coal
seams from No. 17 down to No. 1 of the Lykens Valley are found, which is
possibly one of the few spots in the Middle coal field of which this can
be said. At this stage in the lesson course the reader asks how can the
veins be distinguished from each other? They are all coal, and all
anthracite has a common appearance no matter from what seam it is taken.
Every chunk of coal from any of the breakers possesses the same common
properties, black in color, metallic luster, vitreous fracture, and
conchoidal shape. Their chemical properties are practically alike - the
same percentage of carbon and volatile matter. How then do you know how
or when to call a vein Skidmore at the Cameron, and another at the Henry
Clay the Mammoth?
   Upon a few moments of reflection the experienced inside foreman
answered that this was sometimes a very difficult matter, and had been
the occasion of many disputes. Operators have been known to misname an
inferior coal for some popular one that is asked for in the market. But
in our region the locations of the veins are pretty well established. In
the first place, the qualities and position of the Mammoth, the Buck
Mountain, and Lykens Valley are so prominent and well known that they
serve as guides in placing the others. Suppose a vein is found between
the Mammoth and the Lykens Valley. If the conglomerate on which it rests
is composed of small pebbles we know it is the Buck Mountain. If
immediately below the Mammoth it is the Skidmore, if below the Skidmore
it is the Seven Feet. Above the Mammoth, which is the principal seam of
all coal fields, a vein may be determined by its number from it - if the
vein is the next above, it is the Holmes. Again, the vein may be
determined by its size, ash, and the slates or coverings, principally
the last.
   Some years ago, Kimber Cleaver, the eminent engineer of our region,
conceived the idea that the veins might be distinguished by the fossils
on the slates covering such veins. There may be something in this but it
would require some study to know how to utilize it. A few of the veins
may be recognized by the iron ore seams that follow them.
   As before stated, there are some seventeen coal veins found in the
Shamokin coal field, besides several coal leaders, one or two of which
are largely enough developed at places to be worked.

DESCRIPTION OF THE COAL VEINS

   The following is a brief description of each vein, commencing with
the surface and descending regularly to the bottom measures:-
   No. 17 - Little Tracy. - A red ash vein, the uppermost one found in
the Shamokin region. It is only found in a small basin on the Bellas
tract, on a hill immediately south of the Shamokin cemetery. The vein is
about five feet thick, but has not been worked anywhere in our region on
account of insufficient top.
   No. 16 - Tracy.- A red ash vein, underlying the Little Tracy, about
five feet in thickness. It is a fair coal and has been worked at the
Royal Oak, Franklin Gowen, and Clinton collieries.
   No. 16 - Little Diamond.- A red ash vein, of small size and only
worked in a few places where it reaches the thickness of five feet. It
was worked at the Lambert, and at the Luke Fidler colliery by John
Rosser in 1852.
   No. 14 - Diamond.- Another red ash vein, running from five to seven
feet of coal in places. It was opened and worked at the Clinton, Alpha,
Marshall, and Lambert collieries. A medium coal.
   No. 13 - Little Orchard.- A pink ash coal, worked at Peerless,
Lambert, and Royal Oak collieries. Faulty in places. About six feet
thick.
   No. 12 - Orchard.- A red ash coal of about six feet thickness.
Worked at Peerless, Luke Fidler, Cameron, Garfield, and the old Lambert
colliery.
   No. 11 - Primrose.- A celebrated red ash coal, highly valued in the
markets. This was the first vein opened and worked in the Shamokin
region, and was named the Boyd vein. It was first worked in the bed of
the Shamokin creek between Spurzheim and Webster streets, where the coal
was exposed by the action of the water. It was called John Boyd's stone
coal quarry. For many years this coal was quarried out of the creek and
bank by farmers of the vicinity. The vein opened at the old furnace by
the Shamokin Coal and Iron Company in 1839 is said by some practical
miners to be the famous Primrose, but others contend that this coal
belongs to a higher numbered vein which was afterward worked out by the
Tillets. It was used by the Shamokin furnace in 1841 in smelting iron,
being the third or fourth anthracite furnace erected in this country.
The vein was in 1853 reported to be sixty feet thick and was called the
famous Boyd vein. This vein was worked by the Daniel Webster, Luke
Fidler, and Cameron collieries, and was the main dependence of the
George Fales, Lambert, and Peerless collieries. Average thickness, from
six to eight feet.
   No. 10 - Holmes.- A reddish gray ash coal, of five feet in
thickness. it is largely worked at the Cameron and Peerless collieries.
   Nos. 9 and 8 - Mammoth.- This is the principal coal seam of the
anthracite coal regions and is of general distribution. In some places
the seams are united in one vein as at Locust Gap, measuring as high as
sixty feet in thickness. In our region the vein is divided in three
splits, No. 9 being the upper split, No. 8 the lower split, and the
middle split between them. No. 8 is the most reliable vein. Nos. 8 and
9 run about eight feet each and the middle split about two feet. A white
ash coal of superior value.
   No. 7 - Skidmore.- A white ash coal, five feet thick - not
reliable, principally worked at the Cameron, where it is called the Tape
vein. Produces a good coal at the Cameron, Alaska shaft, and Mt. Carmel
collieries. It is well adapted for furnace use.
   No. 6 - Seven Feet.- A white ash coal of six feet, worked at the
Cameron colliery.
   No. 5 - Buck Mountain.- A red ash coal, from five to ten feet in
thickness. A good coal. Worked at the Cameron and Corbin collieries.
   Lykens Valley Veins.- A red ash coal from six to nine feet in
thickness, being the bottom veins of the coal measures. Worked at the
Cameron, Enterprise, Ben Franklin, and Trevorton collieries. Not fully
developed in our region. At Trevorton twelve feet thick and fully
developed.

A SECTION OF THE MEASURES

   To illustrate this subject more fully and show the nature of the
Shamokin coal basin, we give the following table, as taken from Reports
of Second Geological Survey, showing the thickness of coal veins and
intervening strata from vein No. 16 to No. 2 of Lykens Valley:
  
   No. 16 Vein      5 feet        Strata       21 feet
     Strata     63 feet        Middle Split  8 feet
 "   15 Vein     5 feet        Strata       13 feet
     Strata     79 feet    No. 8 Lower Split 5 feet
 "   14 Vein     8 feet        Strata       59 feet
     Strata     30 feet     "  7 Vein        4 feet
     Coal Leader 1 foot        Strata       34 feet
     Strata     55 feet     "  6 Vein        3 feet
 "   13 Vein     6 feet        Strata       53 feet
     Strata     70 feet     "  5 Vein        3 feet
 "   12 Vein     4 feet        Strata       81 feet
     Strata    226 feet     "  4 Vein        3 feet
 "   11 Vein     7 feet        Strata      342 feet
     Strata    186 feet     "  2 Vein        3 feet
 "   10 Vein     6 feet
     Strata    166 feet       Total       1557 feet
 "   9 Upper Split 8 feet
       Recapitulation. Coal              79 feet
                       Strata          1478 feet
                       Total           1557 feet

   The veins differ in thickness at various collieries and the above
will probably give a lair average of thickness in our region.
   The Mammoth generally occurs in two splits, but at Bear Valley,
Enterprise, and a few other places it appears in three splits. The
average thickness of the Mammoth in this section is about nineteen feet
of coal in our region, though it is reported in places farther east to
have reached the enormous thickness of ninety feet.
   The bottom of the Shamokin coal basin is said to be about one
thousand feet below the level of the sea. Add to this the height of the
Shamokin mountain, which is one thousand five hundred feet above tide,
and we have a perpendicular depth of two thousand five hundred feet for
the Lykens Valley veins.
   The shaft at the Neilson colliery is down about one thousand two
hundred twenty feet reaching the Mammoth veins, or about five hundred
feet below the sea level. By the above table they will yet probably
descend five hundred eighty-five feet to reach the Lykens Valley veins,
or about five hundred feet to reach the one thousand feet below the
level of the ocean, the bottom of the basin. Standing at the corner of
Shamokin and Sunbury streets at Rohrheimer's clothing store, which is
seven hundred fifty-seven feet above tide, and adding one thousand feet
to it and we will have one thousand seven hundred fifty-seven feet to
the bottom of the basin. Adding to this seven hundred forty-three feet,
the elevation of Big mountain at this point, and we will have a grand
total of two thousand five hundred feet
   The Shamokin coal field is a term used in this article to represent
all the coal territory contained in Northumberland county, and for the
sake of convenience rather than geological exactness, it is divided into
three districts representing the townships in which they are chiefly
located. They will be termed the Mt. Carmel, Shamokin, and Trevorton
(Zerbe) districts.
   The great trough of coal in this coal field is divided into several
longitudinal divisions by a few prominent anticlinals forming the
northern and southern boundaries of the local basins, while the rising
and falling of the measures to and from the surface make their eastern
and western limits. Notable among these anticlinals is that of the
Locust mountain, which divides the Locust Gap and Mt. Carmel basins.
Standing in the gap of this mountain, the Pottsville conglomerate can be
plainly seen rising up through the coal measures and dividing the coal
trough. Another very prominent anticlinal is that of Red ridge, north of
the town of Mt. Carmel, which divides the Mt. Carmel and Black Diamond
basins. To fully comprehend this subject, the reader should be on the
ground and have these upheavals of the lower coal measures pointed out.
The districts of Mt. Carmel and Shamokin are divided into a number of
basins, increasing in depth until the town of Shamokin is reached, when
from that point westward they gradually come nearer the surface.
   Another point to be noticed is the change in the character of the
coal as we proceed westward. At Mt. Carmel, and more especially at
Locust Gap, the coal may be classed as a grade between hard and free-
burning white ash; coming westward towards Shamokin, the coal my be
divided into two grades of free-burning and Shamokin white ash, the
latter being a little softer but specially adapted for domestic uses.
Passing farther westward we reach the Trevorton district, where we will
find the coal very pure but so soft as to he termed semi-anthracite.
This is called the North Franklin colliery.
   The present production of the three districts will be given by
dividing the total tonnage of 1889.
             Tons.
   Mt. Carmel district     9 collieries,  1,090,791.
   Shamokin district      18 collieries,  l,541,354.
   Trevorton district      1 colliery,    62,406.
   Total                  28 collieries,  2,694,551.

   The exhaustion of our coal supply has become a very important
question and received much consideration of late years. With the
present enormous output of over thirty-five million tons per year, the
question naturally arises, how long can such shipments be kept up?
Eminent engineers and geologists who have given this subject their
careful attention have presented estimates which vary from one hundred
fifty to two hundred years. It is asserted by them, that by improved
plans of mining and better methods of preparation, the coal wastage may
be greatly reduced and the time extended. Professor Sheafer, a most
excellent authority, declares that only one third of the coal in the
ground gets to market, the other two parts being lost in various ways.
Superintendent Holden Chester and other experienced coal men of our region
think that at least forty per cent may be named as the output from the
Shamokin coal field. Professor Sheafer further states that in the smaller
veins of eight and ten feet, one half of the coal is mined, while in the
very large seams not more than one quarter is taken out The following is
his estimate of the coal supply in the anthracite
region:                                Tons.
   Original amount of anthracite  25,000,000,000.
   Extracted up to 1883            1,500,000,000.
   Leaving untouched              23,500,000,000.
   Deduct two thirds for wastage  15,500,000,000.
   Leaving for future use          8,000,000,000.
   With annual shipments of forty million tons this supply will last
two hundred years.
   But the question that more immediately concerns the people of our
locality is, how long will our supply last? Is it likely to be exhausted
in a few years? Our annual shipments now exceed two and one half million
tons with a fair prospect that our maximum tonnage may reach four
millions. The writer believes that an approximate answer may be given by
basing estimates on results reported by Eckley B. Coxe, one of the
largest and most intelligent coal operators in the State. He says that
"upon excavation of a little less than two hundred acres, with the vein
not over ten feet thick on the average, the shipments are over two
million tons." At this operation he states that the vein is not all
worked out, some breasts unfinished, and some parts unopened, and much
coal to be robbed. Now there are about fifty square miles of coal lands
in Northumberland county. Taking one half of this sum for fully
productive territory and we will have sixteen thousand acres. Upon the
basis of Mr. Coxe, that one acre with a vein of ten feet will yield ten
thousand tons, sixteen thousand acres will furnish one hundred sixty
million tons, and, with an average thickness of forty feet of coal, will
produce four times that quantity or the enormous tonnage of six hundred
forty million tons, the original amount stored away. Deducting from
this forty-six and one half million tons, the amount that has been taken
out, and there will remain for future use and shipment five hundred
ninety-three million five hundred thousand tons. Shipping at the rate
of four million tons a year we have a sufficient supply of coal to last
us for one hundred forty-eight years.
   Is there a more wealthy section in the United States than our
anthracite coal fields?