1898 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

Official Document, No. 11.Second Anthracite(LACKAWANNA COUNTY.)District,Hon. James \A'.Scranton, Pa., February 14, 18DU.Latta, Secretary of Internal Atlairs:Sir: In compliance with section 9, article 2, anthracite mine law,1891, and section 5 of an act establishing a Bureau of Mines inthe Department of Internal Affairs of rennsylvania," etc., etc., approvedJuly 15, 181)7, I beg to submit my report for the year endingDecember 31, 1898.In addition to the regular table forms I have retained the used offorms A, B, C, D, E and F, which give in a concise form the contents01 the regular tables.During the year 5,496,150 tons of coal were produced in the district.Of this 5,01(1,900 tons were shipped to market; of the differencebetween the quantity mined and shipped, some was sold tolocal purchas-ers, and the remainder was consumed at the mines forsleam and heat.15,851 persons were employed in and about the mines, dividedas follows: Outside, 4,911; inside, 10,940.There were 207,051 kegs of powder used, also 98,613 pounds ofdynamite.Comparing these figures with those returned for the previous year,v/e find that the production for 1898 shows a decrease of 489,480tons, the shipment a decrease of 439,596 tons, number of personsemployed a decrease of 727, number of pounds of powder used a decreaseof 251,050,The average number of tons of coal produced per employe for the3'ear is 340.7, while for the year 1897, 301 tons per employe were produced,being a decrease for 1898 of 13.3 tons for each employe.In addition to the foregoing, the several tables which follow willshow that 021 boilers, 250 steam pumps, 359 steam engines, 5 dynamos,3 electric motors and 1,930 horses and mules are in use in andabout the mines of the district.Having thus briefly noted the result of the year's w^ork in productionand shipment, together with the moans employed to accomplishthe same, we now pass to the accidents tliat occurred, which invariablyform such an important part of the mining reports everyyear. Table IV shows that 31 fatal, and Table V that 154 non-fatal3—11—98(33)