MINING. No State in the Union compares with Pennsylvania as to mining. Its mineral wealth has been in a large measure the basis of its di versified and highly developed industrial life. The annual output of coal alone exceeds in value the total mineral product of any other State, and has annually, since 1380, been equal in amount to that. of all the coal mined in the other States. Anthracite has been mined continu ously since 1820. The demand and the out put rapidly increased, particularly after 1840, when it came into use for smelting iron ore. The annual output of anthracite coal much more than doubled in both hulk and value from I5s0 to 1901. The amount in short tons for 1580 was 28,649,811; for 1890, 46,468,641; and for 1901, 67,471,667, the value for the year 1901 being $112,504,021). The anthracite coal fields of Penn sylvania yield almost the entire prodnet for the United States, and represent the only high-grade anthracite producing region in the world. These mining districts fall principally into three sec tions in the northeastern part of the State—the Northern Field, in the Wyoming and Lackawanna, valleys, the Middle or Lehigh and Mahonoy Fields, and the Southern or Schuylkill Field. The bituminous coal is mined chiefly in six parallel valleys west of the Allegheny slope, in the south western corner of the State. h. was not until about 1675 that bituminous coal began to be ex tensively used in iron-smelting, hut since then it has far exceeded anthracite' in annual tonnage. The tonnage increased from 19.416,171 short tory in 1860 to S2,305.496 in 1901, the value for the latter year being 881,397.586. III 1900 there were 92.692 employees engaged in coal-mining.
Pennsylvania has always ranked first in the production of coke, usually yielding about two thirds of the total for the United States. The yield increased from 2,821,384 tons in 1880 to 8,560.245 in 1390 and to over 13.000,000 tons in 1900. The coal used requires little or no prepara tion before charging into the ovens, and the greater part of it is unwashed run-of-mine. Nearly three-fourths of the total product of coke is made in the Connellsville district.
The utilization of petroleum in the United began in Pennsylvania in 1859. The out put increased almost constantly until 1882, when the yield was 30,053,500 barrels. This figure was not exceeded until 1391, when the output was 33,009,236 barrels. The yield has since fallen oft over half, being 12.625,378 barrels in 1901, valued at $15,430,609. Prior to about 1385 Pennsylvania produced almost the whole product for the United States, and up to 1900 had pro duced 60 per cent. of the total output for the country. However, since 1894 Ohio has annually outranked Pennsylvania, and it was also out ranked by West Virginia in 1900. The first oil
pipe lines were laid in 1865, and have been ex tended until they reach numerous, distant points. Natural gas became prominent as a fuel in Pennsylvania earlier than in other gas States, and its annual sales of gas exceed those of any other State. Gas came into general use from 1880 to 1885, reaching its climax in 1888. in which year the sales amounted to 319,282,375. As the supply iu certain regions became ex hausted, the receipts decreased to less than $6, 0110,000 in 1595 and 1896: but the growing scar city has resulted in a considerable rise in price, and this tact has largely been responsible for a recent gain in receipts, which amounted in 1900 to $12.686.161.
Iron-mining began early in the colonial period, and until 1850 the local product supplied the iron furnaces of the State with all the raw ma terial required. And though the greater part of the iron used in the latter part of the nineteenth century mine from outside regions—especially the Lake Superior mines—the output within.the State has not decreased, and Pennsylvania takes fourth rank among the iron-mining States. The yield in 1901 amounted to nearly 1,040,684 long a t $1.890.100. Over 771.000 tons were of the magnetite variety, for which the Cornwall hills, near Lebanon, arc noted. Brown and red hematites and a small quantity of car bonate are also mined.
Pennsylvania is without a rival in the stone quarrying industry. The values of the product in 1901 for limestone. slate, and marble, respectively. were $5,081.387, $2.984,264, and 8157.547. each figure being larger than the corresponding one for any preceding year. The production of slate is about two-thirds that for the whole country. Pennsylvania also ranks first in the amount of limestone quarried. About two-fifths of the lime stone is used for flux, and a somewhat less amount is burned into lime. The value of the granite for the same year was $396.27L but from year to year the value of the output fluctuates greatly. The value of sandstone has recently increased enormously, being put in 1901 ( in cluding Milestone) at $2.063.082, and giving the State second rank. Pennsylvania stands second in the value of its clay products and first in the output of brief:, the value of which in 1901) was $12,000,875. The State produces in value over half the total product of Portland cement for the United States. This industry is rapidly develop ing, the value of the product having increased from $3,142,711 in 1898 to nearly $6,382,350 in 1901. Some rock cement is also produced. Other products worthy of note are metallic paint, min eral water, salt, and or-lire.