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January, 1905 COAL AND TIMBER 7
miner, upon which the whole of the coke
mining manufacturing fabric is founded.
During the term of 25 years that I have
been actively engaged in the Coke Industry,
I have witnessed many strange things, had
some thrilling experiences and seen wonderful
changes which to relate here in no
matter how brief a form would fill volumes;
therefore, I shall not go beyond citing a
few important facts.
The rapid and wonderful strides in the
Industry do not begin to compare with enhancements
of value in the coal sea;n that
sustains it. For instance: In the year 1881,
I was offered six hundred acres of this coal
for the small sum of twenty dollars per
acre. Today, that same coal could not be
bought for $2,500.00 per acre, and I have
heard a man. who has been connected with
tlie industry the whole of his life, state
that the real value of an acre of Connellsville
Coking Coal was fully $4,000.00 per
acre. I do not doubt this, for I have myself
seen fifty, even seventy-five cents per
ton royalty paid for the famous Block Coal
of Ohio, solely on account of its fitnessfor
Iron Smelting, yet it was not equal in such
fitness to the Connellsville Coke, and its
use was long since abandoned. I have myself
(for at one time I was the owner of
a Block Coal Mine) paid a royalty of twenty
cents per ton on the product of a coal seam,
the maximum thickness of which was but
twenty inches, and we followed it down to
fourteen inches with profit. At a neighboring
mine, they actually mined some of this
coal down to a thickness of twelve inches.
The operations, systems, machinery,
safety appliances and general improvements
in the Connellsville Coke Region today are
of a character unexcelled by any mining
region in the world, and with this remark
I must end this imperfect review, as I have
other matters of importance to the Institute
to take up.
This year will always be remembered by
me with sadness, for it has inflicted upon
me three great shocks; each totally unexpected
and each successively nearer until
it reached my own family circle. They
were not only the vehicles of sadness to
me, but they extended to the members of
this Institute, both directly and indirectly.
I refer to the passing away of Mr. Selwyn
Taylor, Mr. Henry W. Oliver and Mr. W.
A. Hogg. All of them were connected with
the Mining and Coking Industry and they
were all masters in other lines, so that they
were doubly great.
We now have in our hearts the memories
of three men—men who were leaders in
the three of the many divisions constituting
the Grand Army of Progress and Enlightenment
that sustains and glorifies this land.
Mr. Selwyn Taylor was by profession a
Mining Engineer, a member of this Institute
and at one time held the office of
Secretary and Treasurer. He was also a
Coal and Coke operator.
Mr. Henry W. Oliver was, as you all
know, a master mind in many things; in
him was combined the Iron and Steel
Manufacturer, the Mine and Coke Operator
and the Financier. It would be difficult
to determine in which he was greatest—
such men cannot be measured.
Mr. W. A. Hogg was a Lawyer by profession,
but of late had entered into the
business of Mining and Coke Making.
Mr. Oliver and Mr. Hogg were not directly
connected with this Institute, but indirectly
they were, and as many of you personally
knew them it is but natural that you should
wish to have them remembered at this time,
the firstof our meetings since their death.
Time forbids my taking up as fully as their
careers certainly merit, the many fine
qualities they all possessed, so I shall endeavor
to as briefly as possible outline the
salient features.
No eulogy of mine cin add lustre to the
reputations of such men, so I will only cite
a few of the many things they will ever
be remembered for.
Mr. Selwyn Taylor, I had known for
nearly a quarter of a century and I always
considered him a friend of whom to be
proud. He was a skillful Engineer, in fact,
he stood at the time of his death at the
head of his particular line of work, and the
towering monuments of engineering
achievements he has left behind him, cannot
be excelled. Leckrone, Footdale and
Buffington Plants of the Lower Connellsville
Coke Region alone are sufficient proof
of this.
In the line of Coal Mining and Coke
Making, he possessed remarkable foresight,
as he developed, or at the very least
was the ruling spirit in the development
of coal fields and Coking Coal lands that
had been rejected or condemned as of but
minor value. Mr. Taylor was but little
over forty when he died, yet he demonstrated
the value of these fields and saw them
in successful operation, notably the development
of the now great Lower Connellsville
Coking Coal Field.
It would take days to describe his many
achievements. As a man, he was of a
friendly, charitable and kindly disposition,
always smiling even in times of trial in
business matters. That he was brave is
attested by the manner of his death. He
marched to certain death in the attempt to
rescue the miners from the ghastly and
horrible depths of the Harwich Mine. Not
because it was his duty, not because he
was Manager of the Mine, not because he
had any pecuniary interest there or his
reputation was at stake; but simply because
the grief of the stricken widows and
orphans, many of whom were aliens and
not of his class, appealed to his great
and manly heart.
It seems hard and difficult to understand
why such men die in this way and at a time
when they had attained a position in life
of note and affluence.
Mr. Taylor was one of the three members
of the Examining Board under whose
examination I sat and by whose recommendation
I received my commission as
Mine Inspector, and I had since frequently
met him on matters relative to Mining
and Coke Making. I had often been in his
company and always found him a tower of
strength and a warm sincere friend. He
was one of the most esteemed members
and officers of this Institute, and though
he could give us but little of his valuable
time from his busy life, he was one of its
strongest friends and his ability was one of
the pillars that uplifted it. What more
could I say? It is not necessary for me
to ask you to pass a resolution in recognition
of his merits for you have all done
so long ago in your hearts and all that is
required now is the formal presentation.
Relative to Mr. Henry W. Oliver, I
stated that he was not directly connected
with the Institute, yet indirectly he was, in
fact, the Institute recognizes all that are
engaged in mining and the industries
directly relating thereto.
I know that I am voicing the sentiments
of every member of this Institute when I
state that all classes, from the Miner to
Mine Owner, are always welcome at our
meetings; no matter whether they are
members or not they need not wait for an
invitation, the latch string is always out
and within reach.
It is natural that I should view Mr.
Oliver's death with sorrow, and no words
of mine can fully express the esteem and
admiration of him that fourteen years
directly under his masterly leadership have
built up. He always took a warm interest
in anything pertaining to the Institute, and
some years ago, when we were about to
hold our pleasurable trip to the Coke
Regions of South Western Pennsylvania,
he was the first man I unburdened myself
to and informed him that funds were low
in the Treasury of the Institute, and I
feared the trip would be a failure for lack
funds. In his characteristic and generous
manner, he said "go ahead and draw on me
for any money the Institute may require
for the trip." I went ahead and our trip
was a great success. Other operators
generously and kindly aided us, but yet I
had a debit of $150.00 as the balance due
on expenditures. You all know that he
paid that balance. Owing to the fact that
Mr. Oliver was not a member of the Institute,
I cannot take the space afforded the
memory of Mr. Taylor, yet I feel that I
cannot, and you would not want us to pass
over his memory without giving you at
least some points in his career as I saw
them.
Mr. Oliver was a man who met with
many problems that were difficult of solution
and still harder to. surmount. At
least three times in his life he, Phoenix-like,
arose from the very ashes of disaster and
each time he achieved a higher plane, and
at the time of his death he stood high on
the roll of wealth and honor that is the
admiration, even the envy of all nations.
His foresight was remarkable, and one remark
of the many I have heard drop from
his lips is sufficient to demonstrate that.
A certain property had been offered to