The Coal Mines of Green River

The writer spent several days of last week at the Franklin and Black Diamond coal mines, situated on and near Green River, thirty odd miles southeast of Seattle. At Black Diamond, I saw the largest and most promising mining operations. In the summer of 1884, a company of capitalists sent out prospectors—B. B. Jones, V. K. Tall, and James Crow—to find and develop coal. After wandering through the dense forest and thick underbrush for some 12 miles from Kenton, they came across some slightly promising croppings in a small canyon near Green River. The task of getting in material and machinery was not small, as the railroad had only arrived less than a year ago. Mr. Jones has the whole thing firmly in hand, running it well and smoothly. The first train of coal came out in June last, and they are already able to ship 700 tons a day. Only a few hundred yards from the original mine, they are developing another vein, which is harder and better for blacksmithing and domestic use. The first is about nine and the second eleven feet thick, with intervening layers of stone or slate. By the courtesy of Superintendent Jones, I was permitted to make an inspection of the underground work. At the head of the slope, I clambered into an empty coal car, the engineer let on steam, and, as the great wire rope uncoiled, we glided down 450 feet into the bowels of the earth. The ventilation is far better than I suspected; in fact, the air seemed as pure there as on the outside. The work is dirty, but the men seemed to enjoy it, and one of them told me he would rather work underground than on the surface. Black Diamond is already a smart town, there being a population of perhaps 500, about 400 of whom work about the mines. It is a place of importance, romantic and healthful.