Growth of Coal Preparation in the Smokeless Fields of West Virginia

DURING recent years, tremendous strides have been made in the economical use of coal. This has resulted in, and to some extent has been a result of, making the fuel specifications more and more rigid. For this reason, all producers have found it necessary to improve their preparation materially, both as to sizing and the elimination of impurities, either by more effective preparation underground or at the tipple and cleaning plant, or both. This cause and its effect in all producing fields seem likely to continue for several years-at least. The splendid inherent qualities of the Pocahontas and New River coals are known all over the world, but their good reputation is only partly due to inherent qualities, and to natural conditions which generally favor loading coal comparatively free from impurities; it is due in large measure to the care and skill used, either with or without the aid of mechanical devices, to ship products consistently low in ash. The first coal from the West Virginia smokeless fields was mined and shipped near Quinnimont, on New River, in 1871, while the first shipments from the Pocahontas field were in 1883. The development of both fields progressed rapidly. At first activities followed the main lines of the Chesapeake & Ohio and Norfolk & Western railroads, and were extended later as branch lines were built from these roads. The Virginian R. R., about 1907, opened up the Winding Gulf territory, which has since become a large producer of smokeless coals from the Pocahontas and the New River measures.