1898 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

xxiv ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc.is fastened a three-quarter inch gas pipe; when tlioroughly cooledtiie contents are drawn out of the oven by the same implementsused to level the coal, and loaded directly into the freight cars readylor shipment. The oven thus emptied is immediately charged again,and in 48 hours is ready to be drawn once more, and so on indefinitelyunless purposely left out of blast. When first fired, the coal is ignitedby means of wood, hot coals, 'etc., in the same way in whicha fire is started in a stove. After repeated charging and drawing,the oven becomes hot, and the subsequent charges become ignitedby the heat retained in the oven walls. For cooling the coks, pure\,ater is absolutely necessary to insure the purest coke, for if it containssulphur or other im])urities, the coke absorbs them, and becomesinjurious to metals manufactured with it.As the Connellsville coke region is the greatest coke region inthe world, so is the H. C. Frick Coke Company the greatest coke producingfirm in the world.This company owns and controls the output of two-thirds of theo\-ens in the region, and sells three-fourths of the coke that entersihe market. The annual capacity of the plants owned and controlledby it reaches the enormous aggregate of 500,000 cars, or about9,000,000 tons. Its coal supply is entirely commensurate with itsimmense manufacturing capacity. Out of about 60,000 acres ofavailable Connellsville coal remaining in the region, this companyowns about 45,000. Among the first in the field and early impressedv/ith the destiny of the region, it was the- policy of the company toenlarge its holdings as fast as possible, and especially itscoal landholdings, hence the kingly acreage it has acquired. It is also amatter worthy of mention that this coal lies for the most part inthe very heart of the region, in or near what is technically known asthe basin, hence the superior quality of the Frick coke, which hasa name for excellence in every market.The history of the H. C. Frick Coke Company is largely a historyof the Connellsville region so far at least as progress and developmentis concerned. The officers and managers of this company fromits distinguished founder down, have been uuiformly active, energeticand progressive, and to these marked characteristics of managementmay in a large measure be attributed the company's presentcommanding position in the coke trade of the region nnd the country.The H. C. Frick Coke Company is the oldest and by far the largestcompany doing business in the Connellsville coke region. Beingfirst to enter the field, it easily acquired possession of the richest coallands, taking at the same time care to get control of lauds throughwhich flowed the f»urest and most imj)ortant streams of water. As