PANTHER CREEK VALLEY.
The waters of the former mines, or Rhume Run, at Nesquehoning, running east, fall into the Lehigh River; while the waters of Panther Creek Valley, running west, unite with the Little Schuylkill at Tamaqua. The basin or field widens in this direction, and the veins which are ver tical at Nesquehoning are here changed to moderate angles, and, conse quently, to more favorable conditions both in regard to the character of the veins and the quality of the coal. At Nesquehoning the veins are not reliable. Their present vertical position was not their original or normal condition, which must have been at a comparatively low angle. The violence which threw them into vertical positions crushed and destroyed their uniformity and seriously injured the workable qualities of both veins and coal. There is only one vein worked at present at the Rhume Run mines, a section of which is given in figure 65.
At the Summit and Panther Creek mines the Lehigh Company have confined their operations exclusively to the Big vein. Three modes of working have been pursued. First, the great bed at the Summit was quarried successfully, as ordinary rocks are quarried, in an open quarry. This they were enabled to do by the immense thickness of the bed and its proximity to the surface. But little cover or earth rested over it, and this was easily removed, leaving a mass of coal over 50 feet thick fully exposed. Figure 67 will explain this peculiar formation.
The folded black stratum on the right of the section, resting against or on the sharp mountain-range, is the location of the celebrated Lehigh quarry. The upper portion of this coal was worked in the daylight, by uncovering it or removing the thin strata of slate, shale, and earth which covered it. The deeper portions have been mined by slope in the ordinary manner. It will be observed that the bed is frequently doubled, forming several sharp axes. In these cases it is of enormous thickness, or double its real size. Should a tunnel be driven across the folds, the vein would be cut five times in succession, and yet have the appearance of being but one bed of coal. The operations of the forces which formed our deep and
inverted basins are here fully demonstrated. It is evident that no lifting force exercised by the laws of nature would or could produce the effects here demonstrated. That a depression of the basins of Nesquehoning aided to form their present deep and steep condition, needs no further proof than is offered in figure 66 ; and that contraction completed the work, by crushing the strata together and inverting the measures, is equally evident. These forces are irresistible.
In figure 67 we see another remarkable evidence of contraction. The general form of the basin on the summit is evidently very near its original condition, with the exception of the peculiar folding exhibited along its centre. It was once a uniform basin, of moderate depth and gentle undu lation ; but since the formation of its coal, or during the Carboniferous era, the Panther basin became depressed, and perhaps the summit became slightly elevated by the forces which contracted the measures or crushed them into their present folded or corrugated shape. Our section presents this formation at its minimum angles. The dip along the Sharp Mountain range is frequently greater. But this upper basin is limited in extent, and, though the coal is of enormous thickness locally, it is confined to a space of less than a square mile.
The large vein here developed is undoubtedly the Mammoth, however it may connect with the Nesque honing veins. The accompanying section illustrates its size and character, as worked in the open quarry. The style of the engraving differs from those we have furnished as originals; but it is neverthelesss correct, and consistent with the original section furnished us by Mr. Patterson, the General Mining Superintendent of the company. It will be noticed in another part of this work that we have purchased some of the elegant illustrations from the publications of the Messrs. Harper. This is one of them.