B, OR THE BUCK MOUNTAIN BED.
This is the second seam or bed of the anthracite coal measures, and is separated from A by 30 to 100 feet of strata,—sometimes almost entirely of conglomerate, with small strata of slate, but frequently by thin sandstones and slates. It is generally a large, workable bed, and is next to the Mammoth in size and character. It ranges from 8 to 20 feet in thickness; and, if we are not mistaken in our views in regard to this seam at Nanticoke and one or two other localities, it is sometimes found as large as 30 feet.
B is known best as the Buck Mountain bed, from the operations of the Buck Mountain Coal Company on this vein in the eastern end of the Hazleton basin, one of the Lehigh group. At the mines of this company it is from 12 to 20 feet in thickness, and productive of excellent coal, which is celebrated as a superior steam fuel. In the Black Creek basin it also exists in fine condition generally, with an average thickness of 12 feet. In the Mahanoy region its general size is from 10 to 15 feet, and at Tamaqua it is given as 15 feet. In the New Boston or Broad Mountain basin,— lying between the central portion of the Southern coal-field and the Mahanoy region,—this bed is in its maximum condition. It is there 18 feet in thickness, and exceedingly pure and excellent, as shown by the sections which are presented farther on in illustration of that basin.
In this district it is not generally considered workable, and is not always marketable, on account of its coarse appearance. But this feature is more local than general. We may, therefore, accept B as a generally productive and prominent member of the anthracite group; in fact, we may consider this bed of much greater importance than the Mammoth, since, as a general rule, it is equally as large, and much more extensive. It is the principal bed in all the Western coal-fields, and furnishes nearly all the fuel used in the bituminous fields for the manufacture of iron. Its character is peculiar: it is almost invariably a double bed wherever found, divided by fire-clay, or slate; it always produces a red-ash coal from its lower benches; is always dense, solid, and tenacious. As an anthracite, it is our best furnace coal when pure. Its only defect is the quantity of ash which it produces; but this might be remedied to a great extent by careful selection and cleaning. In the bituminous regions it is often used raw in the furnace, when not liable to cake; but generally it is first coked or carbonized before use. It rarely ever fails to produce a good coke.
We shall refer to this bed frequently in our future descriptions of other coal-fields, and trace it by unmistakable evidences from one side of the great basin to the other.