Appendix. For the best Essay on the "History [As the MS. of the Prize Essay on this subject did not reach the editor in time to have it printed in the proper place (see p. 400) it is now given in the appendix.-ED.] PREFACE. IN introducing this essay to the adjudicators, it is necessary, in order that they may be satisfied as to the correctness of the tables herein inserted, to say that the whole of them have been extracted from the most reliable authorities available, such as "Hunt's Mineral Statistics of Great Britain," "Browne's Export List," and the printed returns of the coal worked in the several parishes. It has been the aim of the writer to record in as precise a form as possible the whole of the facts at his command, and within his knowledge, relating to the rise, progress, and present prospects of the staple industry of South Wales and Monmouthshire-the industry to which Wales and Welshmen owe so much. The author has endeavoured to bring every subject bearing upon the question under consideration into his essay, and if he has been guilty of unduly praising the excellence of the South Wales Coal, or enlarging upon the progress and prospects of the district, the fault arises from his confidence in, and patriotism for, his native country. With this short prelude the author begs leave to submit his work to the perusal and decision of the adjudicators. THE ESSAY. HISTORY OF THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT PROSPECTS OF THE COAL TRADE, MORE PARTICULARLY STEAM COAL IN SOUTH WALES AND MONMOUTHSHIRE. It is somewhat difficult to say in what year the coal trade of South Wales and Monmouthshire commenced, as we have it recorded in history, extending back over a very long period, that coal, even steam coal, was obtained on the hill sides for iron smelting and other purposes, but as to the date upon which the steam coal trade really commenced, there can be no doubt that it was in the year 1833, and that the first lot exported was sent from the Waunwyllt Level, in the parish of Merthyr Tydfil. The system originally adopted in working coal was that known as "patching," except in a few cases, where they had shallow pits or levels. It hardly need be pointed out that the formation of coal in the earth somewhat resembles the shape of a basin, so that by a little observation our forefathers could easily discover on the slopes of the hills, the existence or otherwise of coal, and upon being satisfied that coal was to be found at any particular point, they set to work to remove a portion of the surface, or "top" upon the coal, and then remove the mineral itself, and in this way they continued working the coal until they had proceeded so far that the "top" had become so high, and consequently so expensive to work, that they would abandon that particular spot, and from thence proceed to open another "patch." This was the original system of working coal, and the one by which the coal and the ironstone was obtained for the Ironworks of Penydarren, Cyfarthfa, and Hirwain, &c., some hundred and fifty years ago, in the days of Bacon, Homfray, Crawshay, and others. There can be no doubt that the greater portion of the coal worked by our ancestors was the now celebrated Steam Coal, inasmuch as the " patches' were all on the "crop" of the Steam Coal measures, and it was not until 1850 that the valuable properties of Bituminous Coal for iron-making purposes was appreciated. Before that date, Bituminous Coal was but little used, except for household purposes, or when it was worked in some of the "patches,” and all the coal mixed up in the furnace or coke clamp. The tourist will readily observe from the size of the tips or mourds of rubbish on the sides of the several valleys of Aberdare and Merthyr, as well as on the highlands of Dowlais, Rhymney, Hirwain, and other mining districts, how extensive this system was carried on. Nature made it apparently easy for our forefathers to win coal at first, but when the seams lying nearest the surface were exhausted, trials in various parts of the district were frequently made to endeavour to find coal "in the earth." Instinct must have taught our forefathers that there must be coal below the seams worked in the "patches," and repeated searches were made, and as frequently abandoned. In traversing the mineral district of South Wales, it is not unusual to come across a large number of shallow pits sunk within a very short distance of each other. Some of them partly filled up, others fenced around, so that no other conclusion can be arrived at than that the parties sinking those pits believed they would find coal within a short distance of the surface, but, having failed in doing so, and not being possessed of either sufficient capital or adequate machinery to proceed further, abondoned them, and we have only a few instances where the workings in connection with pits were prosecuted to any extent, as we very seldom find "old workings" in our present operations. Some time after the adoption of the system of patchwork, the coal was worked by means of levels or adits, which enabled the coal to be obtained without removing the "top." This system is adopted even up to the present time in some places where the seams lie near the surface; but the system of working by patchwork is avoided wherever practicable. It appears from the report of the Royal Coal Commission, that ironmaking was carried on in South Wales as early as the 15th century, and it is quite evident that charcoal only was used in the smelting of iron ore, as the country about the 16th and 17th century was very thickly wooded, and is said to have become almost deforested about the middle of the 17th century Year. In an old history of Pembrokeshire, published in the 18th century, describing the coalfield, the following two varieties of coal then worked are mentioned. These are called "Stone Coal" and "Ring" or "Running Coal." The Stone Coal is described as " Hard Coal which is burned in chimneys and grates of iron, and delighteth to burn in dark places," and that the "Running Coal" melteth and runneth " as wax, and groweth into one clodd." The substitution of coal for charcoal was first successfully accomplished by Mr. Darby, at Coalbrookdale, in 1735; and in 1755 Mr. Bacon obtained a 99 years' lease of a large mineral property in Merthyr at a rent of £200 per annum. According to the report of the Royal Coal Commission there were in the counties of Carmarthen, Glamorgan, and Monmouth in the year 1788, seven charcoal furnaces which produced 4,300 tons of pig-iron, and six coke furnaces in Glamorganshire, producing 6,600 tons per annum. There appears to be no reliable statistics of the produce of coal apart from that consumed in connection with iron making in the period above referred to, but the following statement of the quantity of coal brought into the port of London from the South Wales coal-field in each of the following years, extracted from the Blue-book of the Royal Coal Commission may be interesting : It has been ascertained from reliable sources that coal was worked in this parish above 200 years ago, and not only was the House Coal worked, but Steam Coal was also worked towards the end of the last century. This was, however, long before the valuable properties of Steam Coal were known. TOTAL. About the year 1780, three Levels, known as "Level Thomas Lewis," "Level Newydd," and "Sam Morris' Level," were opened at Plymouth on the northern crop of what subsequently proved to be the 9-feet seam. It was only known then as coal. This coal was used for coking purposes in connection with the ironworks. The system then adopted for making coke was to form a kind of pit in a yard, and place the large coal in the pit until it got five or six feet above the ground. Holes were made in the heap, and after covering it with small coal, fire was placed in the holes, and the heap allowed to burn for several days. Of course, the coal on the top got burnt to ashes before the bottom coal was heated, so that a very large proportion of the coal used was practically wasted. The working of these levels was continued for several years, but as time went along and the science of coal-getting improved, the Plymouth Co. resolved to sink a pit. This pit was the first of any depth sunk in the district, and was then and is now called " Original Pit." The depth sunk was 80 yards--to the "9-feet" or "Rhas-las Seam," and the sinking was completed in the year 1827. The engine employed was one of the old style, a Cornish beam engine, and the average daily outpit was 100 tons of coal. The speed at which the old engine worked was so slow that in order to avoid interruption in the winding of coal, no men were allowed to descend or ascend through the pit, but go to and fro to their stalls through the horseway. The 4 feet, 6 feet, and yard coals were worked at Plymouth at this period by means of levels driven into each seam from the crop; there were no cross-measure drifts in those days. The first consignment of Steam Coal sent from the district to Cardiff for shipment was in the year 1833, obtained from a level called " Waunwyllt "driven to the "four feet seam.' The Plymouth Co., subsequently, sent a small quantity to Cardiff, and, as there were no screens used at that time, the coal had to be hand-picked. The "Graig Pit" near "Waunwyllt Level," and forming a part of the same taking, was sunk in 1842, and sinkings were soon afterwards commenced at North and South Duffryn on the Plymouth Co's property, as also at Dowlais and Cyfarthfa, but the greater portion of the coal was, until late years, consumed at the respective ironworks. Plymouth Works alone consumed 18,000 tons of coal per week, and more coal than was raised on the property had to be obtained from other districts in order to supply their wants. PARISH OF ABERDARE. The working of coal in this parish appears to have commenced in the year 1766, when the first furnace was erected at Hirwain; but as they were only able to turn out about one ton of iron per week, the coal required was very little. Other furnaces were subsequently erected in various parts of the parish, and the coal obtained from "patches." In the year 1793 a man named Edward Edwards worked some coal from a small level near Tir-y-lluest, at Cwmbach, and the coal was conveyed from the level by means of a "drag," or what is better known in Welsh as "Cartllusg." This, however, did not altogether suit his purpose, and eventually a kind of boat was made, which could be carried by four men, and this was the method by which the coal was brought out for a long while. In these scientific days it is amusing to note that, when a "fall" occurred in one level, the collier would leave it and open out another one a few yards beyond. Sometime after Edwards opened his level, another level was opened at Cwmpennar, upon the same seam as Edwards', but this coal did not yield sufficient heat to bake the corn at the several mills in the neighbourhood, so that coal for that purpose was obtained from near Gellideg, in the parish of Merthyr Tydfil-which was conveyed on horseback in a bag containing about 2 cwt. The coal trade of this parish up to the year 1836 was carried on in a very small way, only sufficient being worked to feed the few furnaces and provide fuel for the inhabitants, which, in that period, were very few. In the following year (1837), however, in the month of June, Messrs. Thomas and William Wayne, David Morgan David, and four others opened the first colliery at Abernant-y-groes-uchaf, in the Aberdare Valley; and although they met with serious obstacles in their attempt to prove the steam coal, they ultimately succeeded in reaching it, and it is to them is due the credit of first sinking a pit, and proving the Steam Coal in the Aberdare Valley. All the coal worked from this pit was sent away to Cardiff by canal for exportation. In the succeeding years, Mr. Thomas Powell opened his several collieries at Duffryn, Mr. D. Davis opened at Blaengwawr, Mr. William Thomas at Lletty Shenkin, Messrs. Wayne at Gadlys, and several others subsequently followed, so that the output of the parish gradually increased, and in 1844 about 400 tons of steam coal were worked per day in the valley. By the year 1853 there had been 14 pits sunk to the Steam Coals, which yielded from 2,500 to 3,000 tons per day, and we find that the sinking of pits steadily increased each year until about 1860, when nearly the whole of the mineral properties in the parish had been taken, and openings made upon them. The extent of the workings upon steam coal in this parish for the past twenty years will be found in Table II., page 490. The Taff Vale Railway was opened up to the Aberdare Valley on the 1st of August, 1846, from which date the output of coal rapidly increased; the means of transit before that period being by boats on the Canal to Cardiff. RHONDDA VALLEYS. These Valleys are named from the rivers which run through them, ie., the "Rhondda-Fawr" and "Rhondda-Fach." The two valleys are situate in the County of Glamorgan, and on the western crop of the South Wales Coal Basin, embracing nearly the whole of the Parish of Ystradyfodwg, and a portion of the Parishes of Llanwonno and Llantrissant. In the year 1849, little or no coal was worked in these valleys, except at Dinas, Cymmer, and Gellywnon, which collieries where opened upon the upper or Rhondda series, and the produce loaded in small trams drawn by horses and conveyed by what was known as Coffin's tramway to Treforest, a distance of four or five miles; it was then placed into boats on the Glamorganshire canal, and thence to small foundries and limekilns on the route for consumption. About that time (1849), however, in consequence of the rapid development of the minerals in the Aberdare Valley, the owners of property in the Rhondda Valleys became alive to the value of Steam Coal, and the question of the continuation of the Aberdare Steam Coal into the Rhondda became the subject of much discussion. Although the lie of the strata had been proved in the Aberdare and Merthyr Valleys, no one for some time had sufficient confidence that the same series extended into the Rhondda. The greater portion of the mining authorities of that day entertained considerable |