From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this story dated April 5, 1927:

The greatest antiquity of the Aryan race historically established runs back to from four to five thousand years ago. The language of the Aryans was Sanskrit, and from this language comes the word coal, from the original word “jual” meaning “to burn.” In the Bible coal or coals means the embers of charred or reddened burnt or burning wood. Our present day bituminous and anthracite coal was unknown to the ancients, at least as a fuel, says the Chicago Journal of Commerce.

The general fuel inspector of the New York Central Lines, Malcolm MacFarlane, has been doing research work in the history of bituminous and anthracite coal. While it seems probable that coal came into limited use in the Iron Age about 1000 B.C. the earliest authentic record show that it was used in Greece in 300 B.C. In England it was in use in A.D. 852. Mr. MacFarlane says: “Our ancestors of that day were very suspicious of this new fuel, with heavy black smoke and pungent odors. Fears prevailed that the public health was affected, and so widespread did these become that the English King prohibited the mining of coal entirely. The same condition obtained in France, and it was the middle of the thirteenth century before coal came into general use in Paris.”

First coal discovery in this country came from the town of Ottawa on the Illinois River in 1679, with mining operations beginning seventy years later twelve miles above Richmond, Va. Coal was in general use there twenty-five years later in 1775, and was used in making guns for the patriot army of the Revolutionary War. Later, coal showings were found along the Ohio River in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. In the Northwest, General Fremont reported coal in Wyoming in 1843. In 1879 coal was uncovered in Montana. In the Pomeroy Bend, coal had been mined for more than a hundred years. A coal bank was opened there in 1819. In 1808 at Coalport in the above bend of the river attempts were made to export coal, but were unsuccessful. In 1832 a thousand bushels of Pomeroy coal was shipped in ___ on a flatboat to New Orleans. The field has been a great producer ever since.

Anthracite was discovered in America in 1763, but was not burned ____ to a ____ until 1803.

[cropped]

ever up to that time been placed under the governorship of one man.

Cadillac and LaSalle were both possessed of that spirit which fights against seemingly insurmountable odds. They were leaders. Both visioned the establishment of a vast empire in the West. Their achievements formed the backbone of American development. They were dreamers, and then, with never-ending zeal, strove to realize their dreams.

LaSalle was more the restless discoverer, constantly venturing into some new hazardous undertaking. Cadillac was the colonizer, with a practical and commercial mind. His business and trading ability made the settlement at Detroit a financial success.

Source: “New Data on the History of Coal is Uncovered by MacFarlane, Research Worker,” Logan (WV) Banner, 5 April 1927.

Note: For more information about Pomeroy coal, follow this link: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/OHMEIGS/2006-07/1152225240