 The Cavalcade of America, presented by DuPont. This evening, the DuPont Cavalcade presents a story featuring highlights in the early history of our country's most valuable mineral, King Coal. Of bituminous or soft coal, our nation possesses vast deposits. Of anthracite or hard coal, we have the Earth's greatest supply. It was the discovery and use of anthracite that constituted America's unique contribution to the history of coal. Our story of chemistry at the close of the broadcast deals with a new and remarkable improvement in the coal mining industry that makes it easier to give you better coal for your furnace. This chemical achievement is another splendid example of the DuPont Pledge. Better things for better living through chemistry. As an overture, Don Voorhees and the DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra play Let Me Whisper. Covered with massive forests and jungles of giant ferns. As these great forests toppled into swamps, this decaying vegetation was crushed deep into the earth and transformed by heat and mammoth pressure into deposits of carbon mineral, diamonds in South Africa, coal in Europe and Asia. Marco Polo found coal being used in the Orient. It was first chipped to London in 1240. The story of coal in America begins on a morning in 1679. The Franciscan friar and explorer Louis Hennepin and his voyageure are trampling out their campfire on the shores of the Illinois River. There. It fires out, my father. Then we'll get the canoe and paddle further down the river. There are still some members burning. The fire resists my best effort. It's not the sticks that are burning. They'll split those ashes away, Jean. That's one swell, Hennepin. You see? If those black rocks said, won't let the fire go out. They must be petrified wood, my father. Hard and blank. Yes, but not petrified wood. They're coal, Jean. Yes, like we burn in Europe. Have we any parchment left, Jean? I have a roll in my pouch. Get it for me. I must make a map of this place for my journal. We are not far from Fort Cracodur. That must be Récorde, Jean, with the date and the description of these hills and the river. And most of all, that there's coal here. The first historical mention of coal in America occurs in the journal of Father Louis Hennepin. As the colonies developed along the Atlantic seaboard, small deposits of bituminous or soft coal were found. And in the James River District of Virginia, the mines were opened. A few outcrops of anthracite were discovered in Rhode Island. And in 1766, more of this hard coal was unearthed in the Wyoming Valley of northern Pennsylvania by a group of Connecticut pioneers. It was first burned by Obadiah Gore, a Wilkes-Barre blacksmith in 1769. Bringing anthracite to the early American colonists was the work of the men of the school-kill valley of Pennsylvania. One day, a hunter named Neco Allen got excitedly into a tavern in Pottsville and approached the table where two men are sitting. Chewmaker, where's Stowe? Where do you hear? Why, it's Allen. What's the matter, Neco? I've got something important to tell you. Last night, I built a campfire under Ledger Rock. And I suppose it burned the whole mountain down. Oh, let him finish, where's Stowe? Thaw, Neco. Well, he's almost right, Chewmaker. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I saw a great light and the ledge was burning. Hot under July wind. Oh, you set fire to the trees. No, no, not the trees, the ledge. Ledger Rock, that's what was burning. Chewmaker's been more yards than any man in this town, Neco. This beats them all. Ledger Rock won't burn. Well, this one did, I tell you. That Ledger Rock was burning by itself. What was it like? Well, I couldn't tell the daylight. It was hard, shiny and black. Wait a minute. Black? Hard? Yeah, that's it. That sounds impossible. After all, there's no reason why it shouldn't be as true here as it is in the Wyoming Valley. What are you talking about, Weston? Well, up there, blacksmiths like me claim they burn rocks. Hard. Black, shiny rocks. They call it stone coal. You think Neco's found an outcropping here in the schoolkill valley? That's possible. The only thing is nobody but blacksmiths think it's worth it, Penny. Bill Murray found that out when he tried to sell some in Philadelphia. But it bonds, I tell you. Let's dig out some of this coal to see for ourselves. At first, Neco Allen's discovery of what later became known as anthracite coal caused little excitement. Weston, the blacksmith, successfully burned anthracite in his forge and it came into general use among blacksmiths in the schoolkill valley. Then Neco Allen and George Shoemaker formed a partnership but Allen retired from the enterprise because nobody but blacksmiths would buy anthracite coal. Shoemaker, however, persevered in the belief that the mineral would be brought to the attention of the public living beyond the valley. One morning in 1812, accompanied by Ben Williams, his team driver, he arrives in Philadelphia with nine wagon loads of hard coal and addresses a curious crowd on the street corner. Hold the horse steady, Ben. Get them in. Get them in, I have here. Nine wagon loads of stone coal from the schoolkill valley. I'll sell it cheap to anyone. No, you won't. We ran Bill Murray's out of Philadelphia but trying to do the same thing. But I tell you, it's practical. Not only do our blacksmiths burn it, but Mellon and Bishop used it in their own mill. They say it heats iron faster than any fuel will ever burn. Stone coal is a good fuel, I've tried it to know. It's a fool's fuel. That's all I've got. I like impasses here. Get out of town. Just to prove it, I'll even give it away. It'll burn. Just let me show you. Hey, just a minute, boys. Hey, stranger. Who are you anyway? My name's George Shoemaker. I am from Potsville. Well, that coal can't be worth anything if you want to give it away. My bless you, sir. I don't want to do that. But if I have to give it away to prove I'm honest, I'll do it. I like your spirits, Shoemaker. I'm Josiah White. Erskine Hazard and I have a wireworks plant up at Schoolkill 4. Well, I'm glad to meet you, Mr. White. I've heard of your firm. You say Mellon and Bishop burn this hard coal in their rolling mill? It heat made their iron pass through the rolls like lead. Well, sir, I believe I'll take a chance with your product. Yeah. Judging from the reaction of this crowd, I'd say you won't sell any of this hard coal in Philadelphia this morning. But send us a wagon load over to Schoolkill Falls. I'm going back there now. Well, thank you, Mr. White, and you won't be disappointed. And I hope not. Best way to see if that coal of yours is any good? Mr. Try it out. Yes, sir. Well, you know where to send it. I know. I know. Gentlemen, you saw Mr. White purchase a wagon load of this coal. Don't that convince you? You might be able to swindle him. Not us, though. Let's run the tricks throughout the town. Right. Come on. Whip up the team, Ben. We've got to get out of here. What about our other wagon leaving here? We'll send this one to White. Hurry. Gidak! Use your whip. We'll never get out of here alive. Yeah, right, sir. Stone, sir. Keep your head down. They're bad shots, thank heavens. We can get around this corner. We'll lose them. Hurry faster, sir. You better hang on going around this corner. I thought we'd turn over. Well, they're out of sight, anyway. This street's too crooked. Quick, Ben. Jump off the wagon. We'll hide. All right. Be careful, sir. Oh, there. Oh. Jump now. Follow me. There. Hurt yourself, Ben. No, sir. Follow me. Hurry. Behind these barrels. Won't they find us here? I hope not. Now, then, why? Ben's the wagon. It's down there. Come on, Ben. The wagon's jumping over. Come on. Find the dogs. We'll get them. Yeah, maybe they'll like it. They'll hide right beside the wagon. Don't see no sign of nowhere. Hey, come on, then. They must be down the stairs away. Or over to the next square by now. We're safe until nightfall, Ben. Just stay quiet. They jumped over our last wagon, though. How are we, sir? Mr. White is cold now, sir. We'll send him a load from Pottsville. We promised him one. He'll get it. Later that evening, George Shoemaker left Philadelphia. And in order to escape arrest, returned to Pottsville over a hazardous and deceptive route. Once home, however, he sent a wagon load of anthracite to White on Hazard at Schoolkill Falls. On receiving it, the workmen at this wire work attempted to kindle a fire on the plant's large furnace. To sell White and his partner, Erskine Hazard, watch the proceedings as the dawn light fails over the valley. Looks like you made a mistake at the firm's expense, sir. Maybe we ought to give this coal more of a chance. More of a chance? Well, other men have been trying to get it to burn all night. Nearly daylight. What more do you want? Shoemaker seemed so sure. Yeah, I dare say. But I have had enough of this foolishness. All right, Erskine. Well, boys, better give it up. Close the furnace door. We'll go home. Yes, sir. Shoemaker's a swindler. I'm going to get a warrant out for his arrest. He represented this hard stuff as being good when he sold it to you. Well, I wouldn't do that, Erskine. After all, I bought it of my own free will. He didn't force it on me. Well, nobody's going to make a fool of this firm. Well, don't worry. I'll pay for my mistake. Well, well, only hope we won't be the laughingstock of the whole valley. Hmm. Come on, men. Good night. Good night. Good night, boys. Good night. After you, Erskine. Wait till I lock the door. Ah. What a relief to breathe fresh air again. Even though the air is close in the furnace room, Erskine, I never mind trying an experiment. Well, that hard coal was a mighty disappointing experiment. Look to the sky. I guess we won't get much sleep. That's the white. Excuse me, Mr. White. Could I have the key to the furnace room? I left my jacket back there. Certainly. Yeah. There you are. Thank you. All right, now we'll wait for you. Yes, sir. Hey, don't forget to lock the door. I want to. It wasn't so at all. Well, I'm sorry to kept you boys up all night like this. Yes, sir. Tell you what, boys. All right. Take the day off. You put in a good night's work. All right. All right. Huh? What is it, Jack? Come on back to the furnace room. Why? Is there anything wrong? All right. All right. Come on, we'll all go. Yeah. What's the trouble? The furnace. Just look through that door. What? The coal's burning. Yes. Desert. Yeah. I don't understand why we didn't give it a chance. As soon as we left it alone and closed the door, then it started to burn. That's all it needed. Discovering the value of hard coal, white and hazard, began using anthracite for industrial purposes, and became active pioneers in the distribution of hard coal throughout the Lehigh Valley. After purchasing a region that was to become famous as the March Chunk Mining District, they determined to ship anthracite to the leading cities of the East. Updating a charter from the legislature, they perfected the Lehigh Navigation Canal. For many years, hard coal was shipped over this and other canals in barges called coal arcs. However, in winter, many of the canals froze over, and shipments had to be suspended just when coal was needed most. This was a problem which the pioneers of American coal had to solve. Then, on August 8, 1829, another Allen, a ratio by name, talks with some of his friends in a shanty near Honesdale, Pennsylvania. We're ready for the demonstration now, gentlemen. The locomotive is all ready. Locomotive? Is that what they call that? Contraption standing out there on track? Yeah. A man named Stevenson invented it over in England. I had it shipped to Honesdale in parks. But what good will it do us? Gentlemen, we're all interested in shipping our coal. We know coal arcs are unreliable and wagons are too slow. That's true. I plan to haul our coal overland by locomotive as they do in England. How does it run? It's driven by steam. Probably blow up. I have no fear of that. But gentlemen, if I show you how it operates, how it runs over those tracks I built, then will you help me build some cars to haul the coal from the mines to the cities? Allen, if you show us, you know how to operate that thing. And it does run. The tracks don't cave in underneath it. We'll agree to adopt your plan. Come outside, gentlemen. All right. Oh, I'm not going near it. Whatever blows the pieces. Don't be afraid. The Sturbridge Lion won't bite. The Sturbridge Lion. Is that what they call it? Yes, the Sturbridge Lion. It comes from Sturbridge, England. Well, Jervis, is it fired? Ready to go? Yes, sir. Oh, Jervis here helped me put the locomotive together. Oh. Uh-huh. Well, any of you gentlemen want to ride with me on the first run? No one? I do, Mr. Allen. No, Jervis, you stay here. I want you to get some more grease for the rods. It'll need some when I return to Honesdale. Thanks, Jervis. Allen, it's up to you to prove this locomotive will run. If so, we told you we'd build cars for hauling coal. But we are not risking our necks in the meantime. It isn't easy to do this alone. Stand behind the boiler and pull the throttle, sir. I'll remember, Jervis. And you'll see I'm right, gentlemen. For your sake, Allen, we hope so, too. Well, at least it hasn't exploded. All right, it moves. It runs all by itself, too. Where? It's going faster. Look at that. First time one of them things ever been run in America. First locomotive to appear in the western hemisphere was operated not to carry passengers before shipping anthracite coal. Our nation has honored the Sturbridge Lion, preserving Horatio Allen's little locomotive with its giant smokestack in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Railroads in the coal industry started to grow together. Where railroads went, man followed. Where man went, more coal deposits were found as the country expanded westward. It is early in the year 1844. A young man and his wife drive their covered wagon up to a tall colliery at Wolf Creek near Minersville, Pennsylvania, where a crowd is assembled. Oh, oh. One of you boys tell me how far it is to buck run? Just shy of eight miles, stranger. Thanks. We can get there before sunset, Betsy. We'd better hurry, then. Take it you don't live around these parts, stranger. No, I'm going out west. That's nice-looking machinery. What is it? The colliery where we break up the coal after we get it out of the mine. Know anything about machinery, stranger? Well, I should. I used to be a mechanic in a textile mill back in Connecticut. Well, we don't know much about mechanical things on Wolf Creek. There's only one man here who really knows anything about that, Joe Batten. Mr. Batten. Here's a man you might like to meet. He's a mechanic. Indeed. What's your name, young man? Jim Owen, Mr. Batten. This is my wife. How do you do? Looking for work around here, Mr. Owen? Well, sir, to tell you the truth, I'm on my way out west. I figured I'd do a little prospecting. Might find gold. Are you from Minersville, Mr. Batten? No, no. I came over here from Philadelphia. Gideon Bastie, owner of this colliery, has installed an invention of mine for breaking coal into marketable sizes. As a mechanic, you might be interested in watching the demonstration. Sure would, sir. Good. Come along, then. We'll walk over closer to it. Let me help you out of the wagon, Ms. Owen. Hold. Do all these men work here, Mr. Batten? They represent other mines hereabouts. What is your invention, Mr. Batten? It's a device for getting coal ready for the market faster than it's ever been done before. It's a coal breaker. Yes. You see, when the coal is brought to the surface, it has to be broken up by hand. I know. Well, I've invented a system of cast iron rollers with projecting teeth. The mine material is sent through these rollers and dropped into a bin, like this one here at the side of the colliery. Then it's ready for shipment. Ready to start the demonstration, Joe? Yes, yes. We're all ready. Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Owen, and me, Gideon Bastie. I do. How do you do? Yes, we're ready, Gideon. All right, gentlemen. We'll start the demonstration, Mr. Batten, invention now. How long will it take, Mr. Batten? You'll see for yourself. You're ready up there, Pete? Yes, sir. Go ahead. Coming into the rollers now. Filling into the bin here. All broken up and ready to deliver. That's enough, Gideon. All right, Pete. Stop everything. It's amazing. Get the coal a whole lot faster this way. A wonderful invention. There's only one thing I'm worried about, Batten. Oh, like that. Suppose this machine should break down. You're the only one who knows anything about it. We couldn't repair it effectively. Mr. Owen. Yes, sir? You're a mechanic. Yes, sir. What you see in that bin there isn't gold. And that's what you're looking for, I know. But I believe those hard, black, shiny rocks are greater than gold. They're greater than all the diamonds in the world. Gold and diamonds glitter, yes. But coal is more important than that. Coal makes the wheels go round. I understand, Mr. Batten. You're right. I'm a mechanic and I know how to handle machinery. We have come west a little ways, Jim. Maybe this is your opportunity. That's it, ma'am. An opportunity. Most of us wait a lifetime for it. Many of us don't see it when it's right before us. Will you work for us at the colliery, Mr. Owen? Take care of this coal breaker. Jim. Well, yes, Mr. Batten, I will. Looks like it's just my chance. You'll be proud someday. Someday when you see what coal means. You'll not only be helping to produce better coal, you'll be helping to build a nation. Modern coal breakers still utilize the principle of Joseph Batten's early invention in our country's great colliery. As the decades passed, anthracite and bituminous coal became the building power of modern civilization in furnishing power for the world's industry and providing the force whereby roaring trains thunder over millions of miles in every land and propelling giant liners across the seas and in giving us comfort in our homes. Coal has become a basic mineral in American life. This evening, Dupont salutes those pioneers whose efforts led to the development of our great coal industry in the cavalcade of America. As long as coal has been mined in America, the Dupont Company has helped make it possible for the consumer to heat his home at low cost by providing efficient explosives to blast great quantities of coal from the earth safely and economically. When anthracite coal comes out of the earth, a large amount of slate and other unburnable rock comes with it. In early days, the product of the mine had to be sorted out by hand. Boys were hired to sort through the lumps throwing the slate and rock aside, saving the coal. And then various mechanical devices were invented, none of them capable of doing a perfect job in removing the unburnable material from the coal. Now, after almost 100 years, this problem has been brought close to solution through a remarkable development by Dupont Research Chemists. As long ago as 1902, Dupont Research Chemists foresaw the possibility of an improved separating process which would depend not alone on mechanical devices, but on nature's law of specific gravity. This idea can be illustrated very simply by throwing a handful of wood chips and pebbles into a pan of water. What happened? Pebbles sink, chips float. Dupont experimentation over a period of 32 years centered around heavy liquids which would permit coal to float and let slate and other rocks sink, thus making a perfect separation due to the difference in specific gravity between coal and slate. The most difficult part of the job was to make and apply liquids that were not too costly and went over again without changing in any way. Another problem was to design equipment that would make the process workable. Success finally came in 1934. And it's certain that the possibility of using these so-called parting liquids marks one of the greatest forward steps ever taken in the whole mining industry. For the sink and float process can be used on materials such as iron and copper, as well as coal. Not only does Dupont's new sink and float process assure you that each load of coal you buy will be of uniform quality, but it means greater economy. For clean coal gives more heat per ton. This new process likewise helps do away with dust and dirt in the fuel. Clinkers in your furnace makes fewer ashes to carry out of the cellar and greatly reduces smoke and sulfur fumes. In spite of all these benefits, the new cleaning process doesn't raise the price of coal to the consumer. This achievement, the fruit of one-third of a century of Dupont research, fulfills in every way the Dupont pledge better things for better living through chemistry. The story of Dr. John Gorey and how he perfected the first mechanical ice refrigerating machine will be the subject of our broadcast when, next week at the same time, Dupont again presents the Civil Cade of America. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.