The William A. Colliery
The following reports are taken directly from the Reports of
the Inspector of Mines of the Anthracite Coal regions of Pennsylvania,
later known as Report of the Department of Mines of Pennsylvania.
The reports are taken word
for word as written.
1890 Second District, H.M. McDonald
Inspector, Connell Coal Co, Duryea, Old
Forge Township,
William A. Connell Superintendent. 59,975 tons coal mined. 195
workers in the mines, 106 outside.
The William A. colliery two new shafts have been sunk from
the surface to the Red Ash seam, a depth of 164 feet by William A. Connell and
Sons, on the west side of the Lackawanna River in Old Forge Township,
Lackawanna County. The hoisting shaft is 16 x 11 feet. The other shaft is used
for hoisting and lowering men and for ventilation is 27 x 11 feet. A new Guibal
fan 17 feet in diameter has been erected on the air shaft.
A new breaker has been built and supplied with first class
machinery for cleaning and preparing a large output of coal, with a capacity of
1,000 tons per day. It started to prepare and ship coal in the month of May,
1890. The machinery in and around the breaker is properly fenced or boxed off
for the safety of the employees.
1891 Third District,
H.M. McDonald Inspector, William Connell and Sons, Old Forge Township, William
A. Connell Superintendent. 160,868 tons coal 293 employed. No report
1892 Second
District, Patrick Blewitt Inspector, William Connell Co. Old Forge Township, William
Connell Superintendent. 217,485 tons coal processed. 306
workers in the mines, 122 outside.
On the 1st
of November, 1892 we started running an electric pomp down the
slope workings. Having considerable difficulty owning to the heat from the
steam pipe and exhaust steam from the pump, with the roof over 1000 feet, we
decided to see what there was in the claims of the electric companies, and gave
the order to the General Electric Co. They supplied us with a ten horse power
generator, which is belted through a counter shaft to a small vertical cylinder
engine 8 x 12, running about 130 revolutions per minute. The generator runs
1600 revolutions per minute, and at this speed generates a current with 220
volt potential.
From the
engine house two heavily insulated wires go down the shaft which is about 160
feet deep, the gangways at the foot of the hoisting shaft are lighted with
sixteen-candle power incandescent lamps, the main wire goes to the shaft pump
and there are two sixteen-candle power lamps in the pump house. There is also a
switch by whish the current can be prevented from going into the workings. The
pump is a six and one half inch diameter by eight inch stroke, three plunge
single acting one, and the main frame is mounted on wheels of the gauge of the
mine track, so that the pump can be moved at any time to any other place in the
mine. The motor driving the pump is five horse power,
and is geared to run the plungers about forty-two revolutions per minute, at
which speed it will lift about 150 gallons per minute.
The pump
and motor weigh about 6,600 pounds, and will run upon any cage in the
Anthracite region without anything being moved. The total height overall is
forty-eight feet, and this can be reduced by taking off the large gears, if it
is found necessary to take the pump into low places.
This machinery
has given the most perfect satisfaction from the start, and there does not
appear to be any reason why it should not continue to do so.
1893 Eastern
District, Patrick Blewitt Inspector, No William A. records found.
1894 Eastern
District, Patrick Blewitt Inspector. No William A. records found.
1895 Second
District, Patrick Blewitt Inspector. No William A. records found.
1896 Second District, H.O. Prytherch
Inspector, Connell Coal Co. Old
Forge Township,
Samuel T. Jones Superintendent. 237, 663 tons coal mined. 420
inside workers, 180 outside. A plane has been driven having the
following dimensions: length, 230 feet; sectional area 7 x 16 feet; gradient 12
percent. An opening has been made from the Marcy Vein to the surface.
1897 Second
District, H.O. Prytherch Inspector, Connell Coal Co. Lackawanna
County. Sam’l T. Jones General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
railroad. 206,757 tons of coal mined. 458 miners
inside 146 workers outside. During the later part of 1897 the Connell
Coal Co. discontinued operations at the Lawrence
breaker. The mining operations will continue as in the past, with some material
changes in the transportation and preparation of coal. Instead of hoisting coal
mined in the Lawrence colliery to
the breaker of the same name, it will in the future be run through to the same
company’s William A. colliery and then hoisted to and prepared at that breaker.
The coal mined in the Lawrence
drifts will be lowered through the Lawrence
shaft and handled and prepared in the manner described.
1898 Second District, H.O. Prytherch
Inspector, Connell Coal Co., Lackawanna
County, S.T. Jones General
Superintendent. Lehigh Valley Railroad. 256,054 tons coal mined. 322 inside miners, 170 workers
outside.
1899 Second
District, H.O. Prytherch Inspector, Connell Coal Co, Lackawanna County.
S.T. Jones General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley Railroad. 266,154 tons coal mined. No reports.
1900 Second
District, H.O. Prytherch Inspector, Connell Coal Co., S.T. Jones General
Superintendent. William A. shaft, Lackawanna County.
Lehigh Valley Railroad. 216,154 tons coal mined. 440
workers inside the mines, 168 outside. No reports.
1901 Second
District, H.O. Prytherch Inspector. William A shaft, Connell
Coal Co, Lackawanna County. S.D.Warriner General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
Railroad. 384,584 tons coal mined. 500 workers inside,
203 outside. A rock plain was
driven from the Clark to the Marcy vein, a distance of
140 feet. This is used for letting Marcy vein coal down to the Clark
vein.
1902 Second
District, H.O. Prytherch Inspector. William A. shaft, Connell
Coal Co, Lackawanna County. S.D.Warriner General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
Railroad. 176,920 tons coal mined. 466 workers inside,
169 outside.
No reports.
1903 Fourth District
D.T. Williams, Inspector. Lackawanna County, S.D.Warriner General Superintendent. William A. Lehigh
Valley Coal Co., Lehigh Valley
Railroad. 357,817 tons coal mined, 482 workers inside,
163 outside.
No report.
1904 Fourth District
D.T. Williams, Inspector.
William A., Lehigh Coal Company, Lackawanna
County, S.D.Warriner General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
Railroad. 364,757 tons coal mined, 498 workers
inside, 180 outside.
A rock tunnel was driven from the middle to the upper split
of the Red Ash Vein, at a point near the foot of the long slope, just west of
the Lackawanna River.
It was put at this point in order that the coal in this vein between the river
and the shaft could be mined separately from the same vein east of the river,
the coal under the river being kept as a barrier or safety pillar. Since the
Hallstead Mine was flooded a system of silting has been in operation at this
mine. All of the finer refuse from the breaker, together with the dirt from
culm banks on the surface, has been silted into the old workings.
The workings along the Hallstead Mines have been thoroughly
filled from barrier pillar to main gangway. The work is being continued in the
old workings along the Pennsylvania’s
Coal Co. line. A slope has been driven from the shaft level to the lowest point
in the Flag and Drake tracts. This was for the purpose of saving haulage, the
foot of Long or Main Slope being considerable higher elevation. The old frame
tower on the coal shaft has been replaced with a substantial structure of
yellow pine. The steam plant consisting of 18 cylinder, one return tubular and
one porcupine boiler is being replaced with sterling boilers. This work is now
under way, four batteries of sterling boilers being in place.
1905 Fourth
District, D.T. Williams, Inspector.
William
A., Lehigh Valley Coal Co, Lackawanna County, S.D.Warriner General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
Railroad. 336,884 tons coal mined. 461 workers inside,
198 outside.
A new boiler plant consisting of seven batteries, with 2100
horse power was completed. A steam line was extended from this plant to the Lawrence
and Babylon mines, and the steam
for the three collieries is now furnished from this plant. New cribbing was
placed in the main shaft. One pair of 22 X 22 inch hoisting engines was placed
in the Clark vein to replace the old pair which was too
small for the work. One 1000 and one 600 gallon pump was placed in the Red Ash
Vein for silting.
1906 Fifth
District, H.D. Johnson, Inspector. William A. Lehigh Valley Coal Company, Lackawanna County.
S.D.Warriner General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
Railroad.
206,739 tons coal mined, 337 workers inside, 136 outside.
An 8” rope haulage
hole was drilled from the surface to the Red Ash Vein at the Babylon
mine. Beginning January 1, 1907,
the Lawrence breaker will be
operated as a washery only, with the coal being prepared at the William A.
Breaker. Anew haulage road was driven 2500’ through middle split pillars to the
Babylon Mines to minimize transportation. The road was continued in the bottom
split across the Babylon tract to
the westward, where a 300’tunnel opens up to vergin coal. This haulage road
will eventually connect with # 10 Tunnel at Campbell’s
Ledge, where it will e a continuous road of 16,000’ in length.
1907 Fifth
District, H.D. Johnson, Inspector. William A, Lehigh Valley Coal Co. Lackawanna County.
S.D.Warriner, General Superintendent.
Lehigh Valley Railroad.
William A. being supplied from the following mines: William
A. shaft, Lawrence shaft, Babylon
shaft and drift, Campbell’s Ledge
Tunnel. 322,666 tons of coal processed. 431 workers inside,
153 outside.
A plane was driven in the Red Ash Vein connecting the
Lawrence and William A. mines. A oil burning
locomotive was installed for underground transportation between the Babylon
and William A. mines. All coal from the Lawrence
shaft and drift, and the Babylon
shaft and drift is being conveyed underground to the foot of the William A.
shaft, and prepared at the William A. Breaker.
The conditions of the Lehigh Valley
collieries in this district is such that a great deal of care is
required on the part of the inspector, which is very annoying to the officers
in charge.
William A.
---- This is a pillary problem. The solution of which has caused the most
serious thought on the part of the officials in charge. The three splits of the
Red Ash Vein are mined and the relative position of one to the other, with
three pitches, (two to the basin, and one at right angles to the it), with the
Lawrence being above them at the highest elevation and the only anchoring point
being the pillar under the Lackawanna River, are the problems they must
overcome to win the coal, preserve their property, and not sacrifice life. To
my knowledge nothing definite has been decided upon.
1908 Eighth
District, P.M. Boyle Inspector. William A., Lehigh Valley Coal Co. Lackawanna County. S.D.Warriner General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
Railroad. 214,162 tons of coal processed, 419 workers inside, 143 outside. William A.
being supplied from the following mines: William a. shaft, #10 tunnel. Lawrence
and Babylon shaft’s abandoned.
In the Red Ash Vein the method of pumping has been changed
to handle the water while robbing pillars at the foot of # 3 slope,
or at the southern corner of the Flagg-Drake property. A Jeansville pump, size
22 x 18 x 10 inches, has been placed on the lower gangway off # 3 slope, about
200 feet southeast from the slope, from which water is discharged through a new
14 inch borehole to the surface, where it is utilized in handling the material
from the culm bank now being prepared. The Red Ash workings east of the Lackawanna
river are being silted preparatory to robbing the
pillars.
1909 Eighth
District, P.M. Boyle, Inspector. William A. Lackawanna County.
S.D.Warriner General Superintendent. Lehigh
Valley Railroad. 207,327 tons coal
processed. William A. supplied from the following mines: William A. shaft, # 10
tunnel. Lawrence
and Babylon abandoned.
The principal work done at these nines is robbing pillars,
and are about as safe as it is possible to make them.
1910 Eighth
District, P.M. Boyle, Inspector. William A., Lehigh Valley Coal Co. Lackawanna County.
S.D.Warriner General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
Railroad. 229,700 tons coal processed. William A. being supplied from
the following mines: William A. shaft, #10 tunnel. Lawrence
and Babylon shaft’s abandoned.
A new balance plane 900feet long was laid outside Campbell’s
Ledge and a drift
driven into the Marcy Vein. The mine tracks at # 10 have been rearranged so as to dump the coal from the mine cars
into railroad coal cars to be transported to the William A. Breaker for
preparation. Coal is dumped from the railroad cars on to a 36” conveyor belt 90
feet long, which conveys coal into mine cars near the William A. shaft. A 8” hole 150 feet deep lined with 4” terra cotta pipe to run
silt from the breaker into the mines. The wooden cribbing and buntons at the
William A. shaft were replaced by steel.
1911 Eighth
District, Thomas Williams, Inspector. William A. Lackawanna County.
F.M. Chase General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley Coal
Co.
William A. being supplied by the following mines. William A.
shaft, # 10 tunnel. Lawrence
and Babylon idle. Note! Mines
marked “ idle “ are used for ventilation and emergency
purposes, no coal is hoisted from them.
The following plains were put into operation: 500’ Clark
Vein, 800’ Marcy Vein, 1800’ Fifth Vein. The plains
are operated by engines on the surface. A conveyor 270 feet long was built to
handle ashes from the boiler house. A new boiler house was constructed at Campbell’s
Ledge containing two 72” x 18” boilers to provide steam for the engines on
Clark, Marcy, and Red Ash plains. Two engines 13” x 18” and one 14” x 18” are
installed and 2 rope holes put down to the Marcy, and 1rope hole to the Clark
Vein. A 14” x 18” two drum engine installed and rope hole put down to the Red
Ash Vein.
1912 Eighth
District, Thomas Williams, Inspector. William A. listed as
Luzerne/Lackawanna County.
Lehigh Valley
Railroad. William A. being supplied from the following mines: William A.
shaft, # 10 Tunnel. Lawrence shaft, Babylon shaft
idle.
The principal work at this colliery is removing pillars. The
# 24 slope was driven 1000 feet and connections made to the Phoenix
old workings, north of the fault in the Fifth Vein. Electric haulage in the
Middle Red Ash Vein extended 3200 feet. An air shaft was driven down to the #
10 tunnel to be used as a second opening for this vein. August 25, The engine house at
the # 10 Tunnel was destroyed by fire. It has been replaced with a tile and concrete
building. The 6 foot fan at # 10 was replaced with a 8
foot fan. A Welch overwinding device was installed on the shaft hoisting engine
at the William A. shaft.
1913 Eighth
District, Thomas Williams, Inspector. No county listed. Lehigh Valley
Railroad.
William A. supplied
from the following mines: William A., # 10 Tunnel. Lawrence
and Babylon shafts idle. A new
medical room was built in the # 10 Tunnel, and completed an air shaft from the
surface to the Marcy Vein, at this opening, and a new concrete locomotive house
was built. A new head frame was built
over the Tender shaft. New cribbing was placed in the Babylon
shaft. The foreman’s office was converted to a hospital, and a new office is
being constructed.
1914 Eighth
District, S.J.Jennings, Inspector. Luzerne/Lackawanna
County. Lehigh Valley Railroad. William A. supplied from the following mines:
William A. shaft, Lawrence and Babylon
shaft’s. 289,813 tons coal processed. No report.
1915 Eighth
District S.J.Jennings Inspector. Lackawanna/Luzerne
County, Lehigh Valley Coal Co. Lehigh Valley
Railroad. William A. supplied from the following mines: William A.
shaft, # 10 tunnel. Lawrence
and Babylon idle.
279,359 tons coal processed.
Electric haulage has been installed from the # 10 Tunnel to
Evan’s Farm section and the system was rebuilt to the William A. shaft. This
will allow all coal to be transported underground instead of dumping part of
the output into railroad cars for shipment to the breaker for preparation. A
new concrete engine house was constructed inside and a bore hole put down for
exhaust steam to handle coal on the Lawrence
plane. A tile wash house and foreman’s office was built in the # 10 Tunnel.
Steal lockers for 32 men have been provided.
A substation for electrical power has been established at
the Babylon shaft. Automatic safety
gates were installed on the William A. shaft.
1916
Ninth District, H. McDonald, Inspector. Lackawanna County,
Lehigh valley Coal Co. Thomas Thomas General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
Railroad. 269, 744 tons coal processed. No report.
1917 Ninth
District, Edwin C. Curtis Inspector. Luzerne County,
Thomas Thomas General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
Railroad. 297,247 tons coal processed. No report.
1918 Ninth
District, Edwin C. Curtis Inspector. Luzerne County, Lehigh Valley Coal
Co. Thomas Thomas General Superintendent.
225,919 tons coal processed. The William A Breaker was
destroyed by fire on January 2. No report.
1919 Ninth
District, Edwin C. Curtis Inspector. Lackawanna County.
Thomas Thomas General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
railroads. 176,310 tons coal processed. Note! Coal prepared at the
Seneca breaker. No report.
1920 Ninth
District, Edwin C. Curtis Inspector. Lackawanna County,
Thomas Thomas General Superintendent. Lehigh Valley
Railroad. 169,920 tons coal processed at the Seneca Breaker. No Report.
1921 Ninth
District, Lackawanna County, Lehigh Valley Coal Co. Lehigh Valley Railroad.
148,673 tons coal processed at the Seneca Breaker. No report.
The remaining years will be researched on my next trip to
the Pa. state Archives, Harrisburg.