ANALYSES OF REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES OF WASHINGTON TERRITORY COALS AND LIGNITES.

Key for Sites

• A— Miles City, Dakota.
• B— Newcastle, Washington Territory.
• C— Vein (?) G. R. C.
• D— Vein 33, G. R. C.
• E— Vein (?), G. R. C.
• F— Vein xviii. G. R. C.
• G— Vein ix. G. R. C.
• H— Vein vi. G. R. C.
• I— Vein iii. G. R. C.
• J— Upper Yakima River, Wash'n Ter.
• K— Carbon Station, Wyoming Territory.
• L— Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory.
• M— Wingate Vein, Carbonado.
• N— Vein cxxiii. W. C.
• O— Vein xviii. W. C.
• P— Vein v. W. C.
• Q— Vein i. W. C.
• R— Vein lviii. B. B. C.
• S— Vein xliv. B. B. C.
• T— Vein d, Carbon River, W. C.
• U— Skagit River, Washington Territory.
• V— Raton, New Mexico.
• W— El Moro, New Mexico.

Key to abbreviations for final row "Coke"

• Wls— Worthless
• Exc— Excellent
• B&F— Black and Friable
• Ra Poor— Rather Poor

Note.—G. R. C.—Green River column. W. C.—Wilkeson column. B. B. C.—Busy Brook column.

The different mines.In my brief sketches, I shall group the coal-beds as follows: a, Carbon River Group; b, the Green River Group; c, Cedar River Group; d, the Squak, Raging River, and Snoqualmie Groups; e, the Yakima and Wenatchie Group; f, Bellingham Bay, Skagit River, etc.; g, British Columbia Group.

a. Carbon River Group.—These beds lie on South Prairie Creek and Carbon River, tributaries of the Puyallup River.Anthracite, coking and gas coals. Anthracite coal in thin beds is reported high up on Carbon River, near the base of Mount Ranier; the result of metamorphism. Also undeveloped outcrops of soft coal at numerous points on the same river. There are, however, only three collieries at work in this group. One is called the Carbonado mines, which are on the Carbon River. Three miles north, a little east, are the famous Wilkeson mines; and two miles northwest of Wilkeson, are the South Prairie mines, on South Prairie Creek. (See Map.)

Owing probably to the heating of its beds, we find in this little field the coal which stands highest in reputation for coking and heating qualities. There are some differences in the coal at the three mines. That at South Prairie was sold chiefly for making gas. The best of the Wilkeson coal is made into coke, and is in demand beyond the supply. The price is $7.00 a ton at the ovens. The entire product of the Carbonado mines is said to go to the Central Pacific Railway. It is impossible to say what may be under the Drift; but, to all appearance, the amount of coal here is not large, and the beds are sadly faulted, and pitch deep into the ground.

b. The Green River Group.—I include in this group the Black Diamond and Franklin collieries, the Kirke or Moss Bay Company mines, and the Sugar Loaf Mountain beds. This, as well as the Carbon River field, is nearly equidistant from Tacoma and Seattle, being about thirty miles in a right line from each place. The Carbon River basin is geologically associated with Mount Ranier; the Green River basin with the outliers or foot ridges of the Cascade Mountains. The latter are much more approachable than the former. At the east edge of this field, the Northern Pacific Railroad emerges from the Cascade Mountains, having come down the cañon of Green River. This point is known as "The Common Point,"The Common Point, equidistant between Tacoma and Seattle. because the cities of Tacoma and Seattle are about equally distant, and the routes afford equally good grades from this point.

The narrow gauge road from Seattle now comes to the Franklin mines, and by continuing it a few miles to connect with the Northern Pacific there would be railroad connection to Seattle as well as to Tacoma. The river here cuts through the Coal Measures, leaving the less valuable part of the field on the south side. The area of this field is roughly estimated at fifty square miles. It contains all, or nearly all, the grades of coal from lignite to bituminous; the variety of coal depending upon the degree of local disturbance. As a rule, so long as the coal is not crushed, the more pitched and flexed the rocks, the better the coal; which fact indemnifies the miner for extra expense in mining. Here, the tendency is for the seams to become steeper and more broken from west to east; i.e., as they approach the foot-hills of the Cascade Mountains. The strata in Lizard Mountain on the south side, however, form an exception. Here the strata are nearly horizontal.

Franklin and Black Diamond mines.The Franklin mines are on the north bank of Green River and at the south edge of what has been known as the McKay basin, and the Black Diamond mines are on, or near, the north edge of the same small, oval synclinal basin. From this basin the dips become steeper toward the mountain, where Kirke's beds stand at a high angle. On the west edge of the Green River basin, say a mile west of Franklin, there is an outcrop of lignite. The coal of the Franklin and Black Diamond mines is bituminous lignite. The Kirke coal, or at least part of it, as judged by the eye, may be called bituminous coal, though not so much deoxidized as the Wilkeson. The coals mined in this basin are firm, black and shiny; they burn freely, and make but little dust. They have not, however, so far as tested, the heating power or coking qualities of the Wilkeson coal. Two seams are worked at Franklin, and three at Black Diamond. All of the seams worked are above four feet. A number of volcanic dikes and flows are found in and around this basin.The Kirke or Moss Bay Company (English) mines.

The Kirke or Moss Bay Company mines are six miles east of Franklin, and within a mile of Green River. They lie against the mountain. The strike of the mountain is northwest. The coal beds dip toward the mountain at a high angle. There are five seams of from five to fifteen feet in thickness; one of them (No. 2) may be said to be over forty-seven feet in thickness, though not all good coal, as the details given below will show. The top of the outcrops above sea-level are as follows:

Some places on the outcrop rise much higher. The base of the mountain is about five hundred feet above sea-level. No shipping has been done from here. A gang of miners was at work opening the beds, with the special view of testing their coking qualities in order to be used, if practicable, by the Moss Bay Company for smelting the steel ores of the Cascade Mountains.

The only seam well opened when I was there (Nov. 17th and 18th) was No. 3, which is a large bed and shows an excellent quality of bituminous coal. The bed shows the side and end (or "tooth") structure. The coal is very black and moderately lustrous, and breaks readily into small rectangles of less than an inch. Its coking qualities have not been tested. Nos. 4 and 5 are said to be softer and more powdery, and may possibly be better for coke than No. 3. They have an available thickness of about ten feet each. The details of No. 3 are as follows:

There is a natural exposure of No. 2, the "Big Seam," which I saw on the mountain-side above the miners' camp, and took the following details:

The Kirke mines are sixteen miles from Salal Prairie, and two miles from the Northern Pacific Railroad at the Common Point. The route has been surveyed by the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Adjoining the Kirke, or Moss Bay Company property, is a section of coal land (No. 34) on Sugar Loaf Mountain, owned by parties in Seattle, who offer it at $50,000. There are a number of seams on the property, but I could examine only one which had been opened near the foot of the mountain. It is a good seam of bituminous coal, of the same character with the Kirke coal. I took the following details:

c. The Cedar River Group.—This group consists of the Cedar River mines, nineteen miles from Seattle by rail, the Renton and Talbot mines, ten miles, and the Newcastle, eighteen miles. These coals are in the same river basin, and are all high grade lignites.Cedar River mines.

The first shipment made from the Cedar River mines was in July, 1884. There are two good seams here, one of which measures eleven feet. The outcrop curves from a south to a southwest strike. The dip is 20° toward the east.

Talbot and Renton mines.The Talbot and Renton mines, ten miles from Seattle, are on the same seam, but, owing to faults and other causes, they have not been worked of late. The seam is seven to nine feet of good coal, resembling the Newcastle, but has a bad roof, and soon reaches water. The dip is to the southeast at the grade of 10° to 25°. The outcrop curves as at Cedar Mountain. This always bodes trouble.

Newcastle Mine.The principal mine in this basin is the Newcastle, from which more coal by far has been mined than from any other. Its present annual output is equaled only by the Carbonado mines, which are pressed to their full capacity by the Central Pacific Railroad. The Newcastle coal is a high grade lignite, of firm texture, shining black color, and angular fracture. It is not a coking coal, but has a wide and established reputation for grate, stove, and boiler uses. It is the typical "Seattle" coal, and is sold chiefly in Oregon and California. (To-day, owing to scarcity, it would bring $25 per ton in Los Angeles). It has not the heating power of bituminous coal, but it is greatly superior to many of the lignitic coals. Many difficulties have been met with in the mining at Newcastle, the most of which seem to have been owing to the necessity for mining on the down grade, or fall of the coal; and the mines being now 1,000 feet deep.

I was twice at these mines, but, owing to the just previous destruction of the hoisting machinery, I could not make an examination.

An additional difficulty was that the mine had taken fire.

Cost of mining.The cost of mining at Newcastle has ranged from 85 cents to $1.50 per ton, averaging about $1.10.

According to Governor Squire, in 1884, the beds mined at Newcastle were, beginning at the lowest, 14 feet, 10 feet, and 5 feet in thickness. The dip is 30° to 40° northward, and the trend north 80° west. Governor Semple gives the following as the output of the Newcastle mines from June 30, 1878, to June 30, 1887:Large production.

"The great falling off in the output for 1886 is attributable mainly to the labor troubles of that year, the mine being closed for several months; also the abandonment of the workings from the No. 4 vein."

The slope has now been sunk to a depth of 950 feet, and the mine is being operated entirely from this level. When this lift is finished, it is thought that several others of equal depth can be sunk as the basin is likely to be very deep.

Misrepresentation.After writing the foregoing, I received a volume issued annually by the United States Geological Survey on the Mineral Resources of the United States for 1886; and on page 364 I read with surprise the following statements in regard to the Newcastle mines of Washington Territory: "Considerable iron pyrites is present in this coal, which fact, added to the chaff-like character of the coal for igniting, causes much annoyance and cost to the mine from fires. Coal, or the mine refuse, piled in large quantities quickly ignites."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"The coal never has fired on shipboard.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The part of the mountain which holds the coal seams is a high spur which puts off at right angles northward from the crest or backbone, and continues to Lake Washington, a distance of five miles. At the point where the spur leaves the backbone, it may be 1,000 or 1,200 feet high, and it declines gradually to the lake, and then makes a bluff shore-line. On the east side of the spur on Squak Creek it is steep, whilst on the west side, next Newcastle, it drops off more gradually. This difference of grade occasions a great difference in the economy of mining on the two sides.Peculiar advantages for mining possessed by the Gilman Mines. On the east, or Squak Creek side, the ends of the seams are boldly presented, showing in diagonal parallel lines extending from the top of the spur to the creek level, an average exposure of, say, 900 feet in elevation. Here the entries are being driven in horizontally near the water level, and the future progress of the mining will be inward and upward instead of downward and sidewise, as at Newcastle. The entries will all be on the horizontal line crossing the seams. The extreme distance, 1,300 feet. The length of the seams on the company's land is about two miles. Depth below water level, indefinite.

No shipments have yet been made from Squak Creek, Raging River, or Snoqualmie Mountain, but active developing work has been in progress since September last at the Gilman Mines (forty miles from Seattle), and shipping will begin shortly. A switch of only 600 yards in length is required from the main line of railway to reach the outcrop of the coal, and there is every natural advantage for mining.

Seattle Coal and Iron Company.The Seattle Coal and Iron Company own this property, which consists of 1,300 acres underlaid by seven coal seams, five of which will be mined ultimately, three in the beginning. I was able to examine three seams which will Seven seams.be mined at first, and give the following details.

Details.Top Seam, No. 4, descending:

Good coal.This is a good seam of coal, five feet six inches of which can be depended on for shipping. The coal is dull-black in color, and easily mined. The bottom is soft sandstone. Overlying the roof-slate, is sandstone. The seam here is said to be one foot thicker than it is at Newcastle.

Another good coal seam.Seam No. 2 has been uncovered by the diggings on the railroad, and happens to be at an unfortunate place for showing the coal. A stump, partly silicified, with part of its bark lignified, had been taken out of the coal bed, and on each side of it was a tapering band of "Nigger-head," tapering from eight inches at the stump to nothing at the distance of five feet six inches from the stump. Selecting an average place, I got the following section, descending:

Judging from this outcrop, which I suspect does not do full justice to the bed, at least six feet of merchantable lignitic coal may be depended on from this seam.

And another.Andrew's bed could only be seen at a point 200 feet above the railroad. It is nearest to the metamorphic axis of the mountain, and hence is the bottom seam in the group. It is said to be wanting at Newcastle. The coal is in two benches, descending:

UPPER BENCH.