Coal

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Coal

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Types of Coal
Anthracite Anthracite is coal with the highest
carbon content, between 86 and 98 percent, and a
heat value of nearly 15,000 BTUs-per-pound. Most
frequently associated with home heating,
anthracite is a very small segment of the U.S.
coal market. There are 7.3 billion tons of
anthracite reserves in the United States, found
mostly in 11 northeastern counties in
Pennsylvania.
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Bituminous The most plentiful form of coal in the
United States, bituminous coal is used primarily
to generate electricity and make coke for the
steel industry. The fastest growing market for
coal, though still a small one, is supplying heat
for industrial processes. Bituminous coal has a
carbon content ranging from 45 to 86 percent
carbon and a heat value of 10,500 to 15,500
BTUs-per-pound.
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Subbituminous Ranking below bituminous is
subbituminous coal with 35-45 percent carbon
content and a heat value between 8,300 and 13,000
BTUs-per-pound. Reserves are located mainly in a
half-dozen Western states and Alaska. Although
its heat value is lower, this coal generally has
a lower sulfur content than other types, which
makes it attractive for use because it is cleaner
burning.
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Lignite Lignite is a geologically young coal
which has the lowest carbon content, 25-35
percent, and a heat value ranging between 4,000
and 8,300 BTUs-per-pound. Sometimes called brown
coal, it is mainly used for electric power
generation.
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http//www.uky.edu/KGS/coal/webcoal/pages/coalming
.htm
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Coke Ovens Burning at Night Oil on canvas by
Roman Verostko
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Working the coke ovens was a hot and hard job.
This is an oven in PA.
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• Coal Camps
• Life in the coal camps varied, depending on the
  benevolence of the companies and the
  fluctuations of the coal market.
• Lynch KY was build by US Steel in 1917 for its
  captive mine.

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Lynch KY, 1918
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Main Street, Lynch KY, 1919
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Central office and bath house, Lynch KY
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• Benham was built by International Harvester in
  1911.
• Coal was coked and shipped to the steel mills in
  Chicago.

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Benham KY, 1935
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Rows of coke ovens in Benham
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• Jenkins KY was build by Consolidation Coal
  Company after having purchased 100,000 acres in
  Pike, Letcher and Floyd Counties.

Main Street, 1920
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Wise County Coal Camps
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Stonega, built by Stonega Coal and Coke
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• Labor was the variable capital which could be
  cut during the economic downturns that have
  always plagued the industry.
• Control of labor was of primary concern to the
  owners and operators.
• The company received rent on the housing, and
  could evict any worker and his family who was
  trouble.

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• Miners were paid in scrip which could only be
  redeemed at the company store.

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• They were treated by company doctors and led in
  worship by company preachers.
• They were paid by the amount of coal they dug and
  loaded. They would be docked for slate or rock
  found in the load.
• Companies also engaged in cribbing, using cars
  that actually held more coal that the miners were
  paid for.

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• Low pay, cheating on wages due, high prices for
  goods at the company store, high rents, and poor
  safety conditions all contribute to the labor
  wars in the coalfields.
• The Knights of Labor, the National Miners Union,
  the International Workers of the World, and the
  United Mine Workers of America (founded in 1890)
  all participated in attempts to organize the
  Appalachian coal fields.

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• In 1902 the UMWA achieved its first success in
  the Kanawha-New River coalfield. The operators
  organized and hired Baldwin-Felts to break the
  union.
• In April, 1912, miners on Paint Creek in Kanawha
  Co. walked off, demanding
• recognition of their constitutional rights to
  free speech and assembly
• an end to blacklisting union organizers
• alternatives to company stores
• an end to the practice of using mine guards
• prohibition of cribbing
• installation of scales at all mines for
  accurately weighing coal
• unions be allowed to hire their own checkweighmen
  to make sure the companies' checkweighmen were
  not cheating the miners.
• the right to organize

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• The miners were evicted from their homes. They
  set up their own tent camp.
• Organizers, including Mary Harris Mother Jones,
  came to the support of the miners.

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• Several battles ensued between agents of the
  companies and miners. National Guardsmen were
  called in three times.
• Mother Jones was arrested and placed on trial.
• Gov. Henry Hatfield finally issued a resolution
  that ended the strike, giving the miners a nine
  hour day, the right to shop outside the company
  stores, the right to their own checkweighmen, and
  the end of discrimination against union members.

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• The next major battle began in 1919 in Mingo and
  Logan Counties. Law enforcement, with company
  paid deputies, harassed suspected union men.
• In the Spring of 1920, non-union miners in Mingo
  Co. went on strike. Union membership grew
  rapidly.
• At the famous Matewan Massacre, chief of police
  Sid Hatfield stood down Baldwin-Felts.

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• The Battle of Blair Mountain followed.
• Union membership in southern WVA did not recover
  until the National Industrial Recovery Act of
  1933.
• The Harlan County mine wars took place from
  1931-39.
• There the issues were similar, but the Harlan Co.
  Coal Operators Association was the most
  anti-union of the lot.

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• The Brookside mine strike against Duke Power
  occurred 1973-74. It is documented in Harlan
  County, USA and celebrated in Showtimes Harlan
  Co. Wars.
• The last major strike was against Pittston Coal
  in 1989.

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Breaker boys at a PA mine
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• The mechanization of mining is the current threat
  to the continuation of a significant work force.
• It is also creating a major threat to the
  environment of the coalfields.

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Continuous miner
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Scoop
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Roof bolter
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Drill
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Dragline
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Shovel and hauler
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Dozer
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A mountain top removal (MTR) job in progress.
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In MTR, the overburden is dumped over the side of
the mountain.
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A valley fill created by MTR
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• From the 1950s through the 1970s opposition to
  surface or strip mining grew.
• The Buffalo Creek Disaster was a turning point.
  On February 16, 1972, a dam belonging to Pittston
  Coal Co. broke. 118 persons died. 4000 were left
  homeless.

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http//www.vcn.com/wma/coal/coalfrm/coalfrm1.htm
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This surface mine in Wyoming has a 60-foot seam
of coal.
http//www.mine-engineer.com/mining/coalsrf1.htm