Original picture taken February 1994 on slide. Digital captured from paper print.

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BACKGROUND OF THIS MUMMY

This is the mummy of Mr. Wimitok Mabel. He was the head of the warriors and head of the tribes in Kurulu, Wasi and Wandaku Area. All Communities of these area obeyed him and followed him with commitment, specifically about warrior, culture ceremony such as wedding ceremony, pig ceremony, dance and the other daily activities such as garden work and house building and so on. Mr. Wimitok Mabel had 9 wives and each wife had 2 children, so in total 18 children. Before he died, he made an agreement that he wanted to be preserved not to be burned or buried. Therefore after he died all families followed his agreement.

 

THE METHOD OF THE PRESERVATION

Not all people can do the preservation. For the preservation you need four people - two boys and two ladies. The two boys do the preperation and the two ladies cook for them and serve the food. As food only sweet potatoes and sugarcane is allowed - no water, coffee or tea. To preserve a dead body it is hung over a fire for three month.

 

During this activity no other people are allowed inside the house - only the four. After three month they bring the mummy to the big Mans House. This mummy is about 360 years old.

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A mummy is a deceased human or an animal whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay further if kept in cool and dry conditions. Some authorities restrict the use of the term to bodies deliberately embalmed with chemicals, but the use of the word to cover accidentally desiccated bodies goes back to at least 1615 AD (See the section Etymology and meaning).

 

Mummies of humans and other animals have been found on every continent, both as a result of natural preservation through unusual conditions, and as cultural artifacts. Over one million animal mummies have been found in Egypt, many of which are cats.

 

In addition to the well-known mummies of ancient Egypt, deliberate mummification was a feature of several ancient cultures in areas of America and Asia with very dry climates. The Spirit Cave mummies of Fallon, Nevada in North America were accurately dated at more than 9,400 years old. Before this discovery, the oldest known deliberate mummy is a child, one of the Chinchorro mummies found in the Camarones Valley, Chile, which dates around 5050 BCE. The oldest known naturally mummified human corpse is a severed head dated as 6,000 years old, found in 1936 CE at the site named Inca Cueva No. 4 in South America.

 

ETYMOLOGY AND MEANING

The English word mummy is derived from medieval Latin mumia, a borrowing of the medieval Arabic word mūmiya (مومياء) and from a Persian word mūm (wax), which meant an embalmed corpse, and as well as the bituminous embalming substance, and also meant "bitumen". The Medieval English term "mummy" was defined as "medical preparation of the substance of mummies", rather than the entire corpse, with Richard Hakluyt in 1599 CE complaining that "these dead bodies are the Mummy which the Phisistians and Apothecaries doe against our willes make us to swallow".

 

THESE SUBSTANCES WERE DEFINED AS MUMMIES

The OED defines a mummy as "the body of a human being or animal embalmed (according to the ancient Egyptian or some analogous method) as a preparation for burial", citing sources from 1615 CE onward. However, Chamber's Cyclopædia and the Victorian zoologist Francis Trevelyan Buckland define a mummy as follows: "A human or animal body desiccated by exposure to sun or air. Also applied to the frozen carcase of an animal imbedded in prehistoric snow".

 

Wasps of the genus Aleiodes are known as "mummy wasps" because they wrap their caterpillar prey as "mummies".

 

HISTORY OF MUMMY STUDIES

While interest in the study of mummies dates as far back as Ptolemaic Greece, most structured scientific study began at the beginning of the 20th century. Prior to this, many rediscovered mummies were sold as curiosities or for use in pseudoscientific novelties such as mummia. The first modern scientific examinations of mummies began in 1901, conducted by professors at the English-language Government School of Medicine in Cairo, Egypt. The first X-ray of a mummy came in 1903, when professors Grafton Elliot Smith and Howard Carter used the only X-ray machine in Cairo at the time to examine the mummified body of Thutmose IV. British chemist Alfred Lucas applied chemical analyses to Egyptian mummies during this same period, which returned many results about the types of substances used in embalming. Lucas also made significant contributions to the analysis of Tutankhamun in 1922.

 

Pathological study of mummies saw varying levels of popularity throughout the 20th century. In 1992, the First World Congress on Mummy Studies was held in Puerto de la Cruz on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. More than 300 scientists attended the Congress to share nearly 100 years of collected data on mummies. The information presented at the meeting triggered a new surge of interest in the subject, with one of the major results being integration of biomedical and bioarchaeological information on mummies with existing databases. This was not possible prior to the Congress due to the unique and highly specialized techniques required to gather such data.

 

In more recent years, CT scanning has become an invaluable tool in the study of mummification by allowing researchers to digitally "unwrap" mummies without risking damage to the body. The level of detail in such scans is so intricate that small linens used in tiny areas such as the nostrils can be digitally reconstructed in 3-D. Such modelling has been utilized to perform digital autopsies on mummies to determine cause of death and lifestyle, such as in the case of Tutankhamun.

 

TYPES

Mummies are typically divided into one of two distinct categories: anthropogenic or spontaneous. Anthropogenic mummies were deliberately created by the living for any number of reasons, the most common being for religious purposes. Spontaneous mummies, such as Ötzi, were created unintentionally due to natural conditions such as extremely dry heat or cold, or anaerobic conditions such as those found in bogs. While most individual mummies exclusively belong to one category or the other, there are examples of both types being connected to a single culture, such as those from the ancient Egyptian culture.

 

EGYPTIAN MUMMIES

The earliest ancient Egyptian mummies were created naturally due to the environment in which they were buried. In the era prior to 3500 BCE, Egyptians buried the dead in pit graves, without regard to social status. Pit graves were often shallow. This characteristic allowed for the hot, dry sand of the desert to dehydrate the bodies, leading to natural mummification.

 

The natural preservation of the dead had a profound effect on ancient Egyptian religion. Deliberate mummification became an integral part of the rituals for the dead beginning as early as the 2nd dynasty (about 3400 BCE). New research of an 11-year study by University of York, Macquarie University and University of Oxford suggests mummification occurred 1,500 years earlier than first thought. Egyptians saw the preservation of the body after death as an important step to living well in the afterlife. As Egypt gained more prosperity, burial practices became a status symbol for the wealthy as well. This cultural hierarchy lead to the creation of elaborate tombs, and more sophisticated methods of embalming.

 

By the 4th dynasty (about 2600 BCE) Egyptian embalmers began to achieve "true mummification" through a process of evisceration, followed by preserving the body in various minerals and oils. Much of this early experimentation with mummification in Egypt is unknown.

 

The few documents that directly describe the mummification process date to the Greco-Roman period. The majority of the papyri that have survived only describe the ceremonial rituals involved in embalming, not the actual surgical processes involved. A text known as The Ritual of Embalming does describe some of the practical logistics of embalming, however, there are only two known copies and each is incomplete. With regards to mummification shown in images, there are apparently also very few. The tomb of Tjay designated TT23, is one of only two known which show the wrapping of a mummy (Riggs 2014).

 

Another text that describes the processes being used in latter periods is Herodotus' Histories. Written in Book 2 of the Histories is one of the most detailed descriptions of the Egyptian mummification process, including the mention of using natron in order to dehydrate corpses for preservation. However, these descriptions are short and fairly vague, leaving scholars to infer the majority of the techniques that were used by studying mummies that have been unearthed.

 

By utilizing current advancements in technology, scientists have been able to uncover a plethora of new information about the techniques used in mummification. A series of CT scans performed on a 2,400-year-old mummy in 2008 revealed a tool that was left inside the cranial cavity of the skull. The tool was a rod, made of an organic material, that was used to break apart the brain to allow it to drain out of the nose. This discovery helped to dispel the claim within Herodotus' works that the rod had been a hook made of iron. Earlier experimentation in 1994 by researchers Bob Brier and Ronald Wade supported these findings. While attempting to replicate Egyptian mummification, Brier and Wade discovered that removal of the brain was much easier when the brain was liquefied and allowed to drain with the help of gravity, as opposed to trying to pull the organ out piece-by-piece with a hook.

 

Through various methods of study over many decades, modern Egyptologists now have an accurate understanding of how mummification was achieved in ancient Egypt. The first and most important step was to halt the process of decomposition, by removing the internal organs and washing out the body with a mix of spices and palm wine. The only organ left behind was the heart, as tradition held the heart was the seat of thought and feeling and would therefore still be needed in the afterlife. After cleansing, the body was then dried out with natron inside the empty body cavity as well as outside on the skin. The internal organs were also dried and either sealed in individual jars, or wrapped to be replaced within the body. This process typically took forty days.

 

After dehydration, the mummy was wrapped in many layers of linen cloth. Within the layers, Egyptian priests placed small amulets to guard the decedent from evil. Once the mummy was completely wrapped, it was coated in a resin in order to keep the threat of moist air away. Resin was also applied to the coffin in order to seal it. The mummy was then sealed within its tomb, alongside the worldly goods that were believed to help aid it in the afterlife.

 

Aspergillus niger has been found in the mummies of ancient Egyptian tombs and can be inhaled when they are disturbed.

 

MUMMIFICATION AND RANK

Mummification is one of the defining customs in ancient Egyptian society for people today. The practice of preserving the human body is believed to be a quintessential feature of Egyptian life. Yet even mummification has a history of development and was accessible to different ranks of society in different ways during different periods. There were at least three different processes of mummification according to Herodotus. They range from "the most perfect" to the method employed by the "poorer classes".

 

"MOST PERFECT" METHOD

The most expensive process was to preserve the body by dehydration and protect against pests, such as insects. Almost all the actions Herodotus described serve one of these two functions.

 

First, the brain was removed by passing an iron hook through the nose into the cranium and retracting it by the same pathway; the gray matter was discarded. Modern mummy excavations have shown that instead of an iron hook inserted through the nose as Herodotus claims, a rod was used to liquefy the brain via the cranium, which then drained out the nose by gravity. The embalmers then rinsed the skull with certain drugs that mostly cleared any residue of brain tissue and also had the effect of killing bacteria. Next, the embalmers made an incision along the flank with a sharp blade fashioned from an Ethiopian stone and removed the contents of the abdomen. Herodotus does not discuss the separate preservation of these organs and their placement either in special jars or back in the cavity, a process that was part of the most expensive embalming, according to archaeological evidence.

 

The abdominal cavity was then rinsed with palm wine and an infusion of crushed, fragrant herbs and spices; the cavity was then filled with spices including myrrh, cassia, and, Herodotus notes, "every other sort of spice except frankincense," also to preserve the person.

 

The body was further dehydrated by placing it in natron, a naturally occurring salt, for seventy days. Herodotus insists that the body did not stay in the natron longer than seventy days. Any shorter time and the body is not completely dehydrated; any longer, and the body is too stiff to move into position for wrapping. The embalmers then wash the body again and wrapped it with linen bandages. The bandages were covered with a gum that modern research has shown is both waterproofing agent and an antimicrobial agent.

 

At this point, the body was given back to the family. These "perfect" mummies were then placed in wooden cases that were human-shaped. Richer people placed these wooden cases in stone sarcophagi that provided further protection. The family placed the sarcophagus in the tomb upright against the wall, according to Herodotus.

 

AVOIDING EXPENSE

The second process that Herodotus describes was used by middle-class people or people who "wish to avoid expense". In this method, an oil derived from cedar trees was injected with a syringe into the abdomen. A rectal plug prevented the oil from escaping. This oil probably had the dual purpose of liquefying the internal organs, but also of disinfecting the abdominal cavity. (By liquefying the organs, the family avoided the expense of canopic jars and separate preservation). The body was then placed in natron for seventy days. At the end of this time, the body was removed and the cedar oil, now containing the liquefied organs, was drained through the rectum. With the body dehydrated, it could be returned to the family. Herodotus does not describe the process of burial of such mummies, but they were perhaps placed in a shaft tomb. Poorer people used coffins fashioned from terracotta.

 

INEXPENSIVE METHOD

The third and least-expensive method the embalmers offered was to clear the intestines with an unnamed liquid, injected as an enema. The body was then placed in natron for seventy days and returned to the family. Herodotus gives no further details.

 

CHRISTIAN MUMMIES

In Christian tradition some bodies of Saints are naturally conserved, and venerated.

 

MUMMIFICATION IN OTHER CULTURES

AFRICA

In addition to the mummies of Egypt, there have been instances of mummies being discovered in other areas of the African continent. The bodies show a mix of anthropogenic and spontaneous mummification, with some being thousands of years old.

 

SOUTH AFRICA

The first mummy to be discovered in South Africa was found in the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area by Dr. Johan Binneman in 1999. Nicknamed Moses, the mummy was estimated to be around 2,000 years old. After being linked to the indigenous Khoi culture of the region, the National Council of Khoi Chiefs of South Africa began to make legal demands that the mummy be returned shortly after the body was moved to the Albany Museum in Grahamstown.

 

ASIA

The mummies of Asia are usually considered to be accidental. The decedents were buried in just the right place where the environment could act as an agent for preservation. This is particularly common in the desert areas of the Tarim Basin and Iran. Mummies have been discovered in more humid Asian climates, however these are subject to rapid decay after being removed from the grave.

 

CHINA

Mummies from various dynasties throughout China's history have been discovered in several locations across the country. They are almost exclusively considered to be unintentional mummifications. Many areas in which mummies have been uncovered are difficult for preservation, due to their warm, moist climates. This makes the recovery of mummies a challenge, as exposure to the outside world can cause the bodies to decay in a matter of hours.

 

An example of a Chinese mummy that was preserved despite being buried in an environment not conducive to mummification is Xin Zhui. Also known as Lady Dai, she was discovered in the early 1970s at the Mawangdui archaeological site in Changsha. She was the wife of the marquis of Dai during the Han dynasty, who was also buried with her alongside another young man often considered to be a very close relative. However, Xin Zhui's body was the only one of the three to be mummified. Her corpse was so well-preserved that surgeons from the Hunan Provincial Medical Institute were able to perform an autopsy. The exact reason why her body was so completely preserved has yet to be determined.

 

Some of the more infamous mummies to be discovered in China are those termed Tarim mummies because of their discovery in the Tarim Basin. The dry desert climate of the basin proved to be an excellent agent for desiccation. For this reason, over 200 Tarim mummies, which are over 4,000 years old, were excavated from a cemetery in the present-day Xinjiang region. The mummies were found buried in upside-down boats with hundreds of 13-foot long wooden poles in the place of tombstones. DNA sequence data shows that the mummies had Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA) characteristic of western Eurasia in the area of East-Central Europe, Central Asia and Indus Valley. This has created a stir in the Turkic-speaking Uighur population of the region, who claim the area has always belonged to their culture, while it was not until the 10th century when the Uighurs are said by scholars to have moved to the region from Central Asia. American Sinologist Victor H. Mair claims that "the earliest mummies in the Tarim Basin were exclusively Caucasoid, or Europoid" with "east Asian migrants arriving in the eastern portions of the Tarim Basin around 3,000 years ago", while Mair also notes that it was not until 842 that the Uighur peoples settled in the area. Other mummified remains have been recovered from around the Tarim Basin at sites including Qäwrighul, Yanghai, Shengjindian, Shanpula, Zaghunluq, and Qizilchoqa.

 

IRAN

As of 2012, at least eight mummified human remains have been recovered from the Douzlakh Salt Mine at Chehr Abad in northwestern Iran. Due to their salt preservation, these bodies are collectively known as Saltmen. Carbon-14 testing conducted in 2008 dated three of the bodies to around 400 BCE. Later isotopic research on the other mummies returned similar dates, however, many of these individuals were found to be from a region that is not closely associated with the mine. It was during this time that researchers determined the mine suffered a major collapse, which likely caused the death of the miners. Since there is significant archaeological data that indicates the area was not actively inhabited during this time period, current consensus holds that the accident occurred during a brief period of temporary mining activity

 

SIBERIA

In 1993, a team of Russian archaeologists led by Dr. Natalia Polosmak discovered the Siberian Ice Maiden, a Scytho-Siberian woman, on the Ukok Plateau in the Altai Mountains near the Mongolian border. The mummy was naturally frozen due to the severe climatic conditions of the Siberian steppe. Also known as Princess Ukok, the mummy was dressed in finely detailed clothing and wore an elaborate headdress and jewelry. Alongside her body were buried six decorated horses and a symbolic meal for her last journey. Her left arm and hand were tattooed with animal style figures, including a highly stylized deer.

 

The Ice Maiden has been a source of some recent controversy. The mummy's skin has suffered some slight decay, and the tattoos have faded since the excavation. Some residents of the Altai Republic, formed after the breakup of the Soviet Union, have requested the return of the Ice Maiden, who is currently stored in Novosibirsk in Siberia.

 

Another Siberian mummy, a man, was discovered much earlier in 1929. His skin was also marked with tattoos of two monsters resembling griffins, which decorated his chest, and three partially obliterated images which seem to represent two deer and a mountain goat on his left arm.

 

PHILIPPINES

Philippine mummies are called Kabayan Mummies.They are common in Igorot culture and their heritage.The mummies are found in some areas named Kabayan, Sagada and among others. The mummies are dated between the 14th and 19th centuries.

 

EUROPE

The European continent is home to a diverse spectrum of spontaneous and anthropogenic mummies. Some of the best-preserved mummies have come from bogs located across the region. The Capuchin monks that inhabited the area left behind hundreds of intentionally-preserved bodies that have provided insight into the customs and cultures of people from various eras. One of the oldest, and most infamous, mummies (nicknamed Ötzi) was discovered on this continent. New mummies continue to be uncovered in Europe well into the 21st Century.

 

BOG BODIES

The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark have produced a number of bog bodies, mummies of people deposited in sphagnum bogs, apparently as a result of murder or ritual sacrifices. In such cases, the acidity of the water, low temperature and lack of oxygen combined to tan the body's skin and soft tissues. The skeleton typically disintegrates over time. Such mummies are remarkably well preserved on emerging from the bog, with skin and internal organs intact; it is even possible to determine the decedent's last meal by examining stomach contents. A famous case is that of the Haraldskær Woman, who was discovered by labourers in a bog in Jutland in 1835. She was erroneously identified as an early medieval Danish queen, and for that reason was placed in a royal sarcophagus at the Saint Nicolai Church, Vejle, where she currently remains. Another famous bog body, also from Denmark, known as the Tollund Man was discovered in 1950. The corpse was noted for its excellent preservation of the face and feet, which appeared as if the man had recently died. To this day, only the head of Tollund Man remains, due to the decomposition of the rest of his body, which was not preserved along with the head.

 

CZECH REPUBLIC

The majority of mummies recovered in the Czech Republic come from underground crypts. While there is some evidence of deliberate mummification, most sources state that desiccation occurred naturally due to unique conditions within the crypts.

 

The Capuchin Crypt in Brno contains three hundred years of mummified remains directly below the main altar. Beginning in the 18th Century when the crypt was opened, and continuing until the practice was discontinued in 1787, the Capuchin monks of the monastery would lay the deceased on a pillow of bricks on the ground. The unique air quality and topsoil within the crypt naturally preserved the bodies over time.

 

Approximately fifty mummies were discovered in an abandoned crypt beneath the Church of St. Procopius of Sázava in Vamberk in the mid-1980s. Workers digging a trench accidentally broke into the crypt, which began to fill with waste water. The mummies quickly began to deteriorate, though thirty-four were able to be rescued and stored temporarily at the District Museum of the Orlické Mountains until they could be returned to the monastery in 2000. The mummies range in age and social status at time of death, with at least two children and one priest. The majority of the Vamberk mummies date from the 18th century.

 

The Klatovy catacombs currently house an exhibition of Jesuit mummies, alongside some aristocrats, that were originally interred between 1674–1783. In the early 1930s, the mummies were accidentally damaged during repairs, resulting in the loss of 140 bodies. The newly updated airing system preserves the thirty-eight bodies that are currently on display.

 

DENMARK

Apart from several bog bodies, Denmark has also yielded several other mummies, such as the three Borum Eshøj mummies, the Skrydstrup Woman and the Egtved Girl, who were all found inside burial mounds, or tumulus.

 

In 1875, the Borum Eshøj grave mound was uncovered, which had been built around three coffins, which belonged to a middle aged man and woman as well as a man in his early twenties. Through examination, the woman was discovered to be around 50–60 years old. She was found with several artifacts made of bronze, consisting of buttons, a belt plate, and rings, showing she was of higher class. All of the hair had been removed from the skull later when farmers had dug through the casket. Her original hairstyle is unknown. The two men wore kilts, and the younger man wore a sheath of which contained a bronze dagger. All three mummies were dated to 1351–1345 BCE.

 

The Skrydstrup Woman was unearthed from a tumulus in Southern Jutland, in 1935. Carbon-14 dating showed that she had died around 1300 BCE; examination also revealed that she was around 18–19 years old at the time of death, and that she had been buried in the summertime. Her hair had been drawn up in an elaborate hairstyle, which was then covered by a horse hair hairnet made by sprang technique. She was wearing a blouse and a necklace as well as two golden earrings, showing she was of higher class.

 

The Egtved Girl, dated to 1370 BCE, was found also inside a sealed coffin inside of a tumulus, in 1921. She was wearing a bodice and a skirt, including a belt and bronze bracelets. Also found with the girl were the cremated remains of a child at her feet, and by her head a box containing some bronze pins, a hairnet, and an awl.

 

HUNGARY

In 1994, 265 mummified bodies were found in the crypt of a Dominican church in Vác, Hungary from the 1729–1838 period. The discovery proved to be scientifically important, and by 2006 an exhibition was established in the Museum of Natural History in Budapest. Unique to the Hungarian mummies are their elaborately decorated coffins, with no two being exactly alike.

 

ITALY

The varied geography and climatology of Italy has led to many cases of spontaneous mummification. Italian mummies display the same diversity, with a conglomeration of natural and intentional mummification spread across many centuries and cultures.

 

The oldest natural mummy in Europe was discovered in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps on the Austrian-Italian border. Nicknamed Ötzi, the mummy is a 5,300-year-old male believed to be a member of the Tamins-Carasso-Isera cultural group of South Tyrol. Despite his age, a recent DNA study conducted by Walther Parson of Innsbruck Medical University revealed Ötzi has 19 living genetic relatives.

 

The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo were built in to the 16th century by the monks of Palermo’s Capuchin monastery. Originally intended to hold the deliberately mummified remains of dead friars, interment in the catacombs became a status symbol for the local population in the following centuries. Burials continued until the 1920s, with one of the most famous final burials being that of Rosalia Lombardo. In all, the catacombs host nearly 8000 mummies.

 

The most recent discovery of mummies in Italy came in 2010, when sixty mummified human remains were found in the crypt of the Conversion of St Paul church in Roccapelago di Pievepelago, Italy. Built in the 15th Century as a cannon hold and later converted in the 16th Century, the crypt had been sealed once it had reached capacity, leaving the bodies to be protected and preserved. The crypt was reopened during restoration work on the church, revealing the diverse array of mummies inside. The bodies were quickly moved to a museum for further study.

 

NORTH AMERICA

The mummies of North America are often steeped in controversy, as many of these bodies have been linked to still-existing native cultures. While the mummies provide a wealth of historically-significant data, native cultures and tradition often demands the remains be returned to their original resting places. This has led to many legal actions by Native American councils, leading to most museums keeping mummified remains out of the public eye.

 

CANADA

Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi ("Long ago person found" in the Southern Tutchone language of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations), was found in August 1999 by three First Nations hunters at the edge of a glacier in Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada. According to the Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi Project, the remains are the oldest well preserved mummy discovered in North America. (It should be noted that the Spirit Cave mummy although not well preserved, is much older.) Initial radiocarbon tests date the mummy to around 550 years-old.

 

GREENLAND

In 1972, eight remarkably preserved mummies were discovered at an abandoned Inuit settlement called Qilakitsoq, in Greenland. The "Greenland Mummies" consisted of a six-month-old baby, a four-year-old boy, and six women of various ages, who died around 500 years ago. Their bodies were naturally mummified by the sub-zero temperatures and dry winds in the cave in which they were found.

 

MEXICO

Intentional mummification in pre-Columbian Mexico was practiced by the Aztec culture. These bodies are collectively known as Aztec mummies. Genuine Aztec mummies were "bundled" in a woven wrap and often had their faces covered by a ceremonial mask. Public knowledge of Aztec mummies increased due to traveling exhibits and museums in the 19th and 20th centuries, though these bodies were typically naturally desiccated remains and not actually the mummies associated with Aztec culture. (See: Aztec mummy)

 

Natural mummification has been known to occur in several places in Mexico, though the most famous are the mummies of Guanajuato. A collection of these mummies, most of which date to the late 19th century, have been on display at El Museo de las Momias in the city of Guanajuato since 1970. The museum claims to have the smallest mummy in the world on display (a mummified fetus). It was thought that minerals in the soil had the preserving effect, however it may rather be due to the warm, arid climate. Mexican mummies are also on display in the small town of Encarnación de Díaz, Jalisco.

 

UNITED STATES

Spirit Cave Man was discovered in 1940 during salvage work prior to guano mining activity that was scheduled to begin in the area. The mummy is a middle-aged male, found completely dressed and lying on a blanket made of animal skin. Radiocarbon tests in the 1990s dated the mummy to being nearly 9,000 years old. The remains are currently held at the Nevada State Museum. There has been some controversy within the local Native American community, who began petitioning to have the remains returned and reburied in 1995.

 

AUSTRALIA

The aboriginal mummification traditions found in Australia are thought be related to those found in the Torres Strait islands, the inhabitants of which achieved a high level of sophisticated mummification techniques (See:Torres Strait). Australian mummies lack some of the technical ability of the Torres Strait mummies, however much of the ritual aspects of the mummification process are similar. Full-body mummification was achieved by these cultures, but not the level of artistic preservation as found on smaller islands. The reason for this seems to be for easier transport of bodies by more nomadic tribes.

 

NEW ZEALAND

Some Māori tribes from New Zealand would keep mummified heads as trophies from tribal warfare. They are also known as Mokomokai. In the 19th Century, many of the trophies were acquired by Europeans who found the tattooed skin to be a phenomenal curiosity. Westerners began to offer valuable commodities in exchange for the uniquely tattooed mummified heads. The heads were later put on display in museums, 16 of which being housed across France alone. In 2010, the Rouen City Hall of France returned one of the heads to New Zealand, despite earlier protests by the Culture Ministry of France.

 

There is also evidence that some Maori tribes may have practiced full-body mummification, though the practice is not thought to have been widespread. The discussion of Maori mummification has been historically controversial, with some experts in past decades claiming that such mummies have never existed. Contemporary science does now acknowledge the existence of full-body mummification in the culture. There is still controversy, however, as to the nature of the mummification process. Some bodies appear to be spontaneously created by the natural environment, while others exhibit signs of deliberate practices. General modern consensus tends to agree that there could be a mixture of both types of mummification, similar to that of the ancient Egyptian mummies.

 

SOUTH AMERICA

The South American continent contains some of the oldest mummies in the world, both deliberate and accidental. The bodies were preserved by the best agent for mummification: the environment. Rather than developing elaborate processes such as later-dynasty ancient Egyptians, the early South Americans often left their dead in naturally dry or frozen areas, though some did perform surgical preparation when mummification was intentional. Some of the reasons for intentional mummification in South America include memorialization, immortalization, and religious offerings.

 

INCA MUMMIES

Several naturally-preserved, unintentional mummies dating from the Incan period have been found in the colder regions of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. These are collectively known as "ice mummies". The first Incan ice mummy was discovered in 1954 atop El Plomo Peak in Chile, after an eruption of the nearby volcano Sabancaya melted away ice that covered the body. The Mummy of El Plomo was a male child who was presumed to be wealthy due to his well-fed bodily characteristics. He was considered to be the most well-preserved ice mummy in the world until the discovery of Mummy Juanita in 1995.

 

Mummy Juanita was discovered near the summit of Ampato in the Peruvian section of the Andes mountains by archaeologist Johan Reinhard. Her body had been so thoroughly frozen that it had not been desiccated; much of her skin, muscle tissue, and internal organs retained their original structure. She is believed to be a ritual sacrifice, due to the close proximity of her body to the Incan capital of Cusco, as well as the fact she was wearing highly intricate clothing to indicate her special social status. Several Incan ceremonial artifacts and temporary shelters uncovered in the surrounding area seem to support this theory.

 

More evidence that the Inca left sacrificial victims to die in the elements, and later be unintentionally preserved, came in 1999 with the discovery of the Llullaillaco mummies on the border of Argentina and Peru. The three mummies are children, two girls and one boy, who are thought to be sacrifices associated with the ancient ritual of qhapaq hucha. Recent biochemical analysis of the mummies has revealed that the victims had consumed increasing quantities of alcohol and coca, possibly in the form of chicha, in the months leading up to sacrifice. The dominant theory for the drugging reasons that, alongside ritual uses, the substances probably made the children more docile. Chewed coca leaves found inside the eldest child's mouth upon her discovery in 1999 supports this theory.

 

SELF-MUMMIFICATION

Monks whose bodies remain incorrupt without any traces of deliberate mummification are venerated by some Buddhists who believe they successfully were able to mortify their flesh to death. Self-mummification was practiced until the late 1800s in Japan and has been outlawed since the early 1900s.

 

Many Mahayana Buddhist monks were reported to know their time of death and left their last testaments and their students accordingly buried them sitting in lotus position, put into a vessel with drying agents (such as wood, paper, or lime) and surrounded by bricks, to be exhumed later, usually after three years. The preserved bodies would then be decorated with paint and adorned with gold.

 

Bodies purported to be those of self-mummified monks are exhibited in several Japanese shrines, and it has been claimed that the monks, prior to their death, stuck to a sparse diet made up of salt, nuts, seeds, roots, pine bark, and urushi tea.

 

PLASTINATION

Plastination is a technique used in anatomy to conserve bodies or body parts. The water and fat are replaced by certain plastics, yielding specimens that can be touched, do not smell or decay, and even retain most microscopic properties of the original sample.

 

The technique was invented by Gunther von Hagens when working at the anatomical institute of the Heidelberg University in 1978. Von Hagens has patented the technique in several countries and is heavily involved in its promotion, especially as the creator and director of the Body Worlds traveling exhibitions, exhibiting plastinated human bodies internationally. He also founded and directs the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg.

 

More than 40 institutions worldwide have facilities for plastination, mainly for medical research and study, and most affiliated to the International Society for Plastination.

Treatment of ancient mummies in modern times

 

In the Middle Ages, based on a mistranslation from the Arabic term for bitumen, it was thought that mummies possessed healing properties. As a result, it became common practice to grind Egyptian mummies into a powder to be sold and used as medicine. When actual mummies became unavailable, the sun-desiccated corpses of criminals, slaves and suicidal people were substituted by mendacious merchants. The practice developed into a wide-scale business that flourished until the late 16th century. Two centuries ago, mummies were still believed to have medicinal properties to stop bleeding, and were sold as pharmaceuticals in powdered form as in mellified man. Artists also made use of Egyptian mummies; a brownish pigment known as mummy brown, based on mummia (sometimes called alternatively caput mortuum, Latin for death's head), which was originally obtained by grounding human and animal Egyptian mummies. It was most popular in the 17th century, but was discontinued in the early 19th century when its composition became generally known to artists who replaced the said pigment by a totally different blend -but keeping the original name, mummia or mummy brown-yielding a similar tint and based on ground minerals (oxides and fired earths) and or blends of powdered gums and oleoresins (such as myrrh and frankincense) as well as ground bitumen. These blends appeared on the market as forgeries of powdered mummy pigment but were ultimately considered as acceptable replacements, once antique mummies were no longer permitted to be destroyed. Many thousands of mummified cats were also sent from Egypt to England to be processed for use in fertilizer.

 

During the 19th century, following the discovery of the first tombs and artifacts in Egypt, Egyptology was a huge fad in Europe, especially in Victorian England. European aristocrats would occasionally entertain themselves by purchasing mummies, having them unwrapped, and holding observation sessions. These sessions destroyed hundreds of mummies, because the exposure to the air caused them to disintegrate.

 

WIKIPEDIA

nrhp # 66000666- The East Broad Top Railroad and Coal Company was chartered in 1856. Due to financial constraints and the American Civil War, the railroad was not built by its original charterers, but a new group of investors began to acquire right-of-way in 1867 and was able to construct the railroad as a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge line in 1872–1874. Service began from Mount Union, Pennsylvania to Orbisonia, Pennsylvania in August, 1873, and to Robertsdale in November, 1874. The line later was extended to Woodvale and Alvan, with several short branches. At its height, it had over 60 miles of track and approximately 33 miles of main line.

The primary purpose of the railroad was to haul semi-bituminous coal from the mines on the east side of the remote Broad Top Mountain plateau to the Pennsylvania Railroad in Mount Union. The railroad also carried substantial amounts of ganister rock, lumber and passengers with some agricultural goods, concrete, road tar and general freight. In its first three decades the railroad supplied much of its coal to the Rockhill Iron Furnace, operated by the railroad's sister company, the Rockhill Iron and Coal Company, and in turn hauled the pig iron from the furnace.

As the iron industry in the region faded in the early 1900s, the railroad came to subsist on coal traffic for about 90% of its revenue. Large plants for the manufacture of silica brick were developed at Mount Union around the turn of the 20th century, and these became major customers for coal and also for ganister rock, which was quarried at multiple points along the railroad.

The EBT was generally profitable from the 1880s through the 1940s and was able to modernize its infrastructure far more than other narrow gauge railroads. A coal cleaning plant and a full maintenance shops complex were built, bridges were upgraded from iron and wood to steel and concrete, wood rolling stock was replaced by steel, and modern high-powered steam locomotives were bought from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia.

In the 1950s, coal demand plummeted as homes and industries switched to cheap oil and gas. The last nail in the coffin came when the silica brick plants in Mount Union converted to oil and gas and not enough coal could be sold to support the mines and the railroad. The railroad closed as a coal hauler April 14, 1956, and along with the coal-mining company was sold for scrap to the Kovalchick Salvage Corporation.

 

from Wikipedia

This is a composite image created to celebrate the mining industry that was once prevalent in the community in which I now live.

Original picture taken February 1994 on slide. Digitally captured from paper print.

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BACKGROUND OF THIS MUMMY

This is the mummy of Mr. Wimitok Mabel. He was the head of the warriors and head of the tribes in Kurulu, Wasi and Wandaku Area. All Communities of these area obeyed him and followed him with commitment, specifically about warrior, culture ceremony such as wedding ceremony, pig ceremony, dance and the other daily activities such as garden work and house building and so on. Mr. Wimitok Mabel had 9 wives and each wife had 2 children, so in total 18 children. Before he died, he made an agreement that he wanted to be preserved not to be burned or buried. Therefore after he died all families followed his agreement.

 

THE METHOD OF THE PRESERVATION

Not all people can do the preservation. For the preservation you need four people - two boys and two ladies. The two boys do the preperation and the two ladies cook for them and serve the food. As food only sweet potatoes and sugarcane is allowed - no water, coffee or tea. To preserve a dead body it is hung over a fire for three month.

 

During this activity no other people are allowed inside the house - only the four. After three month they bring the mummy to the big Mans House. This mummy is about 360 years old. (in 1994)

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A mummy is a deceased human or an animal whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay further if kept in cool and dry conditions. Some authorities restrict the use of the term to bodies deliberately embalmed with chemicals, but the use of the word to cover accidentally desiccated bodies goes back to at least 1615 AD (See the section Etymology and meaning).

 

Mummies of humans and other animals have been found on every continent, both as a result of natural preservation through unusual conditions, and as cultural artifacts. Over one million animal mummies have been found in Egypt, many of which are cats.

 

In addition to the well-known mummies of ancient Egypt, deliberate mummification was a feature of several ancient cultures in areas of America and Asia with very dry climates. The Spirit Cave mummies of Fallon, Nevada in North America were accurately dated at more than 9,400 years old. Before this discovery, the oldest known deliberate mummy is a child, one of the Chinchorro mummies found in the Camarones Valley, Chile, which dates around 5050 BCE. The oldest known naturally mummified human corpse is a severed head dated as 6,000 years old, found in 1936 CE at the site named Inca Cueva No. 4 in South America.

 

ETYMOLOGY AND MEANING

The English word mummy is derived from medieval Latin mumia, a borrowing of the medieval Arabic word mūmiya (مومياء) and from a Persian word mūm (wax), which meant an embalmed corpse, and as well as the bituminous embalming substance, and also meant "bitumen". The Medieval English term "mummy" was defined as "medical preparation of the substance of mummies", rather than the entire corpse, with Richard Hakluyt in 1599 CE complaining that "these dead bodies are the Mummy which the Phisistians and Apothecaries doe against our willes make us to swallow".

 

THESE SUBSTANCES WERE DEFINED AS MUMMIES

The OED defines a mummy as "the body of a human being or animal embalmed (according to the ancient Egyptian or some analogous method) as a preparation for burial", citing sources from 1615 CE onward. However, Chamber's Cyclopædia and the Victorian zoologist Francis Trevelyan Buckland define a mummy as follows: "A human or animal body desiccated by exposure to sun or air. Also applied to the frozen carcase of an animal imbedded in prehistoric snow".

 

Wasps of the genus Aleiodes are known as "mummy wasps" because they wrap their caterpillar prey as "mummies".

 

HISTORY OF MUMMY STUDIES

While interest in the study of mummies dates as far back as Ptolemaic Greece, most structured scientific study began at the beginning of the 20th century. Prior to this, many rediscovered mummies were sold as curiosities or for use in pseudoscientific novelties such as mummia. The first modern scientific examinations of mummies began in 1901, conducted by professors at the English-language Government School of Medicine in Cairo, Egypt. The first X-ray of a mummy came in 1903, when professors Grafton Elliot Smith and Howard Carter used the only X-ray machine in Cairo at the time to examine the mummified body of Thutmose IV. British chemist Alfred Lucas applied chemical analyses to Egyptian mummies during this same period, which returned many results about the types of substances used in embalming. Lucas also made significant contributions to the analysis of Tutankhamun in 1922.

 

Pathological study of mummies saw varying levels of popularity throughout the 20th century. In 1992, the First World Congress on Mummy Studies was held in Puerto de la Cruz on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. More than 300 scientists attended the Congress to share nearly 100 years of collected data on mummies. The information presented at the meeting triggered a new surge of interest in the subject, with one of the major results being integration of biomedical and bioarchaeological information on mummies with existing databases. This was not possible prior to the Congress due to the unique and highly specialized techniques required to gather such data.

 

In more recent years, CT scanning has become an invaluable tool in the study of mummification by allowing researchers to digitally "unwrap" mummies without risking damage to the body. The level of detail in such scans is so intricate that small linens used in tiny areas such as the nostrils can be digitally reconstructed in 3-D. Such modelling has been utilized to perform digital autopsies on mummies to determine cause of death and lifestyle, such as in the case of Tutankhamun.

 

TYPES

Mummies are typically divided into one of two distinct categories: anthropogenic or spontaneous. Anthropogenic mummies were deliberately created by the living for any number of reasons, the most common being for religious purposes. Spontaneous mummies, such as Ötzi, were created unintentionally due to natural conditions such as extremely dry heat or cold, or anaerobic conditions such as those found in bogs. While most individual mummies exclusively belong to one category or the other, there are examples of both types being connected to a single culture, such as those from the ancient Egyptian culture.

 

EGYPTIAN MUMMIES

The earliest ancient Egyptian mummies were created naturally due to the environment in which they were buried. In the era prior to 3500 BCE, Egyptians buried the dead in pit graves, without regard to social status. Pit graves were often shallow. This characteristic allowed for the hot, dry sand of the desert to dehydrate the bodies, leading to natural mummification.

 

The natural preservation of the dead had a profound effect on ancient Egyptian religion. Deliberate mummification became an integral part of the rituals for the dead beginning as early as the 2nd dynasty (about 3400 BCE). New research of an 11-year study by University of York, Macquarie University and University of Oxford suggests mummification occurred 1,500 years earlier than first thought. Egyptians saw the preservation of the body after death as an important step to living well in the afterlife. As Egypt gained more prosperity, burial practices became a status symbol for the wealthy as well. This cultural hierarchy lead to the creation of elaborate tombs, and more sophisticated methods of embalming.

 

By the 4th dynasty (about 2600 BCE) Egyptian embalmers began to achieve "true mummification" through a process of evisceration, followed by preserving the body in various minerals and oils. Much of this early experimentation with mummification in Egypt is unknown.

 

The few documents that directly describe the mummification process date to the Greco-Roman period. The majority of the papyri that have survived only describe the ceremonial rituals involved in embalming, not the actual surgical processes involved. A text known as The Ritual of Embalming does describe some of the practical logistics of embalming, however, there are only two known copies and each is incomplete. With regards to mummification shown in images, there are apparently also very few. The tomb of Tjay designated TT23, is one of only two known which show the wrapping of a mummy (Riggs 2014).

 

Another text that describes the processes being used in latter periods is Herodotus' Histories. Written in Book 2 of the Histories is one of the most detailed descriptions of the Egyptian mummification process, including the mention of using natron in order to dehydrate corpses for preservation. However, these descriptions are short and fairly vague, leaving scholars to infer the majority of the techniques that were used by studying mummies that have been unearthed.

 

By utilizing current advancements in technology, scientists have been able to uncover a plethora of new information about the techniques used in mummification. A series of CT scans performed on a 2,400-year-old mummy in 2008 revealed a tool that was left inside the cranial cavity of the skull. The tool was a rod, made of an organic material, that was used to break apart the brain to allow it to drain out of the nose. This discovery helped to dispel the claim within Herodotus' works that the rod had been a hook made of iron. Earlier experimentation in 1994 by researchers Bob Brier and Ronald Wade supported these findings. While attempting to replicate Egyptian mummification, Brier and Wade discovered that removal of the brain was much easier when the brain was liquefied and allowed to drain with the help of gravity, as opposed to trying to pull the organ out piece-by-piece with a hook.

 

Through various methods of study over many decades, modern Egyptologists now have an accurate understanding of how mummification was achieved in ancient Egypt. The first and most important step was to halt the process of decomposition, by removing the internal organs and washing out the body with a mix of spices and palm wine. The only organ left behind was the heart, as tradition held the heart was the seat of thought and feeling and would therefore still be needed in the afterlife. After cleansing, the body was then dried out with natron inside the empty body cavity as well as outside on the skin. The internal organs were also dried and either sealed in individual jars, or wrapped to be replaced within the body. This process typically took forty days.

 

After dehydration, the mummy was wrapped in many layers of linen cloth. Within the layers, Egyptian priests placed small amulets to guard the decedent from evil. Once the mummy was completely wrapped, it was coated in a resin in order to keep the threat of moist air away. Resin was also applied to the coffin in order to seal it. The mummy was then sealed within its tomb, alongside the worldly goods that were believed to help aid it in the afterlife.

 

Aspergillus niger has been found in the mummies of ancient Egyptian tombs and can be inhaled when they are disturbed.

 

MUMMIFICATION AND RANK

Mummification is one of the defining customs in ancient Egyptian society for people today. The practice of preserving the human body is believed to be a quintessential feature of Egyptian life. Yet even mummification has a history of development and was accessible to different ranks of society in different ways during different periods. There were at least three different processes of mummification according to Herodotus. They range from "the most perfect" to the method employed by the "poorer classes".

 

"MOST PERFECT" METHOD

The most expensive process was to preserve the body by dehydration and protect against pests, such as insects. Almost all the actions Herodotus described serve one of these two functions.

 

First, the brain was removed by passing an iron hook through the nose into the cranium and retracting it by the same pathway; the gray matter was discarded. Modern mummy excavations have shown that instead of an iron hook inserted through the nose as Herodotus claims, a rod was used to liquefy the brain via the cranium, which then drained out the nose by gravity. The embalmers then rinsed the skull with certain drugs that mostly cleared any residue of brain tissue and also had the effect of killing bacteria. Next, the embalmers made an incision along the flank with a sharp blade fashioned from an Ethiopian stone and removed the contents of the abdomen. Herodotus does not discuss the separate preservation of these organs and their placement either in special jars or back in the cavity, a process that was part of the most expensive embalming, according to archaeological evidence.

 

The abdominal cavity was then rinsed with palm wine and an infusion of crushed, fragrant herbs and spices; the cavity was then filled with spices including myrrh, cassia, and, Herodotus notes, "every other sort of spice except frankincense," also to preserve the person.

 

The body was further dehydrated by placing it in natron, a naturally occurring salt, for seventy days. Herodotus insists that the body did not stay in the natron longer than seventy days. Any shorter time and the body is not completely dehydrated; any longer, and the body is too stiff to move into position for wrapping. The embalmers then wash the body again and wrapped it with linen bandages. The bandages were covered with a gum that modern research has shown is both waterproofing agent and an antimicrobial agent.

 

At this point, the body was given back to the family. These "perfect" mummies were then placed in wooden cases that were human-shaped. Richer people placed these wooden cases in stone sarcophagi that provided further protection. The family placed the sarcophagus in the tomb upright against the wall, according to Herodotus.

 

AVOIDING EXPENSE

The second process that Herodotus describes was used by middle-class people or people who "wish to avoid expense". In this method, an oil derived from cedar trees was injected with a syringe into the abdomen. A rectal plug prevented the oil from escaping. This oil probably had the dual purpose of liquefying the internal organs, but also of disinfecting the abdominal cavity. (By liquefying the organs, the family avoided the expense of canopic jars and separate preservation). The body was then placed in natron for seventy days. At the end of this time, the body was removed and the cedar oil, now containing the liquefied organs, was drained through the rectum. With the body dehydrated, it could be returned to the family. Herodotus does not describe the process of burial of such mummies, but they were perhaps placed in a shaft tomb. Poorer people used coffins fashioned from terracotta.

 

INEXPENSIVE METHOD

The third and least-expensive method the embalmers offered was to clear the intestines with an unnamed liquid, injected as an enema. The body was then placed in natron for seventy days and returned to the family. Herodotus gives no further details.

 

CHRISTIAN MUMMIES

In Christian tradition some bodies of Saints are naturally conserved, and venerated.

 

MUMMIFICATION IN OTHER CULTURES

AFRICA

In addition to the mummies of Egypt, there have been instances of mummies being discovered in other areas of the African continent. The bodies show a mix of anthropogenic and spontaneous mummification, with some being thousands of years old.

 

SOUTH AFRICA

The first mummy to be discovered in South Africa was found in the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area by Dr. Johan Binneman in 1999. Nicknamed Moses, the mummy was estimated to be around 2,000 years old. After being linked to the indigenous Khoi culture of the region, the National Council of Khoi Chiefs of South Africa began to make legal demands that the mummy be returned shortly after the body was moved to the Albany Museum in Grahamstown.

 

ASIA

The mummies of Asia are usually considered to be accidental. The decedents were buried in just the right place where the environment could act as an agent for preservation. This is particularly common in the desert areas of the Tarim Basin and Iran. Mummies have been discovered in more humid Asian climates, however these are subject to rapid decay after being removed from the grave.

 

CHINA

Mummies from various dynasties throughout China's history have been discovered in several locations across the country. They are almost exclusively considered to be unintentional mummifications. Many areas in which mummies have been uncovered are difficult for preservation, due to their warm, moist climates. This makes the recovery of mummies a challenge, as exposure to the outside world can cause the bodies to decay in a matter of hours.

 

An example of a Chinese mummy that was preserved despite being buried in an environment not conducive to mummification is Xin Zhui. Also known as Lady Dai, she was discovered in the early 1970s at the Mawangdui archaeological site in Changsha. She was the wife of the marquis of Dai during the Han dynasty, who was also buried with her alongside another young man often considered to be a very close relative. However, Xin Zhui's body was the only one of the three to be mummified. Her corpse was so well-preserved that surgeons from the Hunan Provincial Medical Institute were able to perform an autopsy. The exact reason why her body was so completely preserved has yet to be determined.

 

Some of the more infamous mummies to be discovered in China are those termed Tarim mummies because of their discovery in the Tarim Basin. The dry desert climate of the basin proved to be an excellent agent for desiccation. For this reason, over 200 Tarim mummies, which are over 4,000 years old, were excavated from a cemetery in the present-day Xinjiang region. The mummies were found buried in upside-down boats with hundreds of 13-foot long wooden poles in the place of tombstones. DNA sequence data shows that the mummies had Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA) characteristic of western Eurasia in the area of East-Central Europe, Central Asia and Indus Valley. This has created a stir in the Turkic-speaking Uighur population of the region, who claim the area has always belonged to their culture, while it was not until the 10th century when the Uighurs are said by scholars to have moved to the region from Central Asia. American Sinologist Victor H. Mair claims that "the earliest mummies in the Tarim Basin were exclusively Caucasoid, or Europoid" with "east Asian migrants arriving in the eastern portions of the Tarim Basin around 3,000 years ago", while Mair also notes that it was not until 842 that the Uighur peoples settled in the area. Other mummified remains have been recovered from around the Tarim Basin at sites including Qäwrighul, Yanghai, Shengjindian, Shanpula, Zaghunluq, and Qizilchoqa.

 

IRAN

As of 2012, at least eight mummified human remains have been recovered from the Douzlakh Salt Mine at Chehr Abad in northwestern Iran. Due to their salt preservation, these bodies are collectively known as Saltmen. Carbon-14 testing conducted in 2008 dated three of the bodies to around 400 BCE. Later isotopic research on the other mummies returned similar dates, however, many of these individuals were found to be from a region that is not closely associated with the mine. It was during this time that researchers determined the mine suffered a major collapse, which likely caused the death of the miners. Since there is significant archaeological data that indicates the area was not actively inhabited during this time period, current consensus holds that the accident occurred during a brief period of temporary mining activity

 

SIBERIA

In 1993, a team of Russian archaeologists led by Dr. Natalia Polosmak discovered the Siberian Ice Maiden, a Scytho-Siberian woman, on the Ukok Plateau in the Altai Mountains near the Mongolian border. The mummy was naturally frozen due to the severe climatic conditions of the Siberian steppe. Also known as Princess Ukok, the mummy was dressed in finely detailed clothing and wore an elaborate headdress and jewelry. Alongside her body were buried six decorated horses and a symbolic meal for her last journey. Her left arm and hand were tattooed with animal style figures, including a highly stylized deer.

 

The Ice Maiden has been a source of some recent controversy. The mummy's skin has suffered some slight decay, and the tattoos have faded since the excavation. Some residents of the Altai Republic, formed after the breakup of the Soviet Union, have requested the return of the Ice Maiden, who is currently stored in Novosibirsk in Siberia.

 

Another Siberian mummy, a man, was discovered much earlier in 1929. His skin was also marked with tattoos of two monsters resembling griffins, which decorated his chest, and three partially obliterated images which seem to represent two deer and a mountain goat on his left arm.

 

PHILIPPINES

Philippine mummies are called Kabayan Mummies.They are common in Igorot culture and their heritage.The mummies are found in some areas named Kabayan, Sagada and among others. The mummies are dated between the 14th and 19th centuries.

 

EUROPE

The European continent is home to a diverse spectrum of spontaneous and anthropogenic mummies. Some of the best-preserved mummies have come from bogs located across the region. The Capuchin monks that inhabited the area left behind hundreds of intentionally-preserved bodies that have provided insight into the customs and cultures of people from various eras. One of the oldest, and most infamous, mummies (nicknamed Ötzi) was discovered on this continent. New mummies continue to be uncovered in Europe well into the 21st Century.

 

BOG BODIES

The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark have produced a number of bog bodies, mummies of people deposited in sphagnum bogs, apparently as a result of murder or ritual sacrifices. In such cases, the acidity of the water, low temperature and lack of oxygen combined to tan the body's skin and soft tissues. The skeleton typically disintegrates over time. Such mummies are remarkably well preserved on emerging from the bog, with skin and internal organs intact; it is even possible to determine the decedent's last meal by examining stomach contents. A famous case is that of the Haraldskær Woman, who was discovered by labourers in a bog in Jutland in 1835. She was erroneously identified as an early medieval Danish queen, and for that reason was placed in a royal sarcophagus at the Saint Nicolai Church, Vejle, where she currently remains. Another famous bog body, also from Denmark, known as the Tollund Man was discovered in 1950. The corpse was noted for its excellent preservation of the face and feet, which appeared as if the man had recently died. To this day, only the head of Tollund Man remains, due to the decomposition of the rest of his body, which was not preserved along with the head.

 

CZECH REPUBLIC

The majority of mummies recovered in the Czech Republic come from underground crypts. While there is some evidence of deliberate mummification, most sources state that desiccation occurred naturally due to unique conditions within the crypts.

 

The Capuchin Crypt in Brno contains three hundred years of mummified remains directly below the main altar. Beginning in the 18th Century when the crypt was opened, and continuing until the practice was discontinued in 1787, the Capuchin monks of the monastery would lay the deceased on a pillow of bricks on the ground. The unique air quality and topsoil within the crypt naturally preserved the bodies over time.

 

Approximately fifty mummies were discovered in an abandoned crypt beneath the Church of St. Procopius of Sázava in Vamberk in the mid-1980s. Workers digging a trench accidentally broke into the crypt, which began to fill with waste water. The mummies quickly began to deteriorate, though thirty-four were able to be rescued and stored temporarily at the District Museum of the Orlické Mountains until they could be returned to the monastery in 2000. The mummies range in age and social status at time of death, with at least two children and one priest. The majority of the Vamberk mummies date from the 18th century.

 

The Klatovy catacombs currently house an exhibition of Jesuit mummies, alongside some aristocrats, that were originally interred between 1674–1783. In the early 1930s, the mummies were accidentally damaged during repairs, resulting in the loss of 140 bodies. The newly updated airing system preserves the thirty-eight bodies that are currently on display.

 

DENMARK

Apart from several bog bodies, Denmark has also yielded several other mummies, such as the three Borum Eshøj mummies, the Skrydstrup Woman and the Egtved Girl, who were all found inside burial mounds, or tumulus.

 

In 1875, the Borum Eshøj grave mound was uncovered, which had been built around three coffins, which belonged to a middle aged man and woman as well as a man in his early twenties. Through examination, the woman was discovered to be around 50–60 years old. She was found with several artifacts made of bronze, consisting of buttons, a belt plate, and rings, showing she was of higher class. All of the hair had been removed from the skull later when farmers had dug through the casket. Her original hairstyle is unknown. The two men wore kilts, and the younger man wore a sheath of which contained a bronze dagger. All three mummies were dated to 1351–1345 BCE.

 

The Skrydstrup Woman was unearthed from a tumulus in Southern Jutland, in 1935. Carbon-14 dating showed that she had died around 1300 BCE; examination also revealed that she was around 18–19 years old at the time of death, and that she had been buried in the summertime. Her hair had been drawn up in an elaborate hairstyle, which was then covered by a horse hair hairnet made by sprang technique. She was wearing a blouse and a necklace as well as two golden earrings, showing she was of higher class.

 

The Egtved Girl, dated to 1370 BCE, was found also inside a sealed coffin inside of a tumulus, in 1921. She was wearing a bodice and a skirt, including a belt and bronze bracelets. Also found with the girl were the cremated remains of a child at her feet, and by her head a box containing some bronze pins, a hairnet, and an awl.

 

HUNGARY

In 1994, 265 mummified bodies were found in the crypt of a Dominican church in Vác, Hungary from the 1729–1838 period. The discovery proved to be scientifically important, and by 2006 an exhibition was established in the Museum of Natural History in Budapest. Unique to the Hungarian mummies are their elaborately decorated coffins, with no two being exactly alike.

 

ITALY

The varied geography and climatology of Italy has led to many cases of spontaneous mummification. Italian mummies display the same diversity, with a conglomeration of natural and intentional mummification spread across many centuries and cultures.

 

The oldest natural mummy in Europe was discovered in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps on the Austrian-Italian border. Nicknamed Ötzi, the mummy is a 5,300-year-old male believed to be a member of the Tamins-Carasso-Isera cultural group of South Tyrol. Despite his age, a recent DNA study conducted by Walther Parson of Innsbruck Medical University revealed Ötzi has 19 living genetic relatives.

 

The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo were built in to the 16th century by the monks of Palermo’s Capuchin monastery. Originally intended to hold the deliberately mummified remains of dead friars, interment in the catacombs became a status symbol for the local population in the following centuries. Burials continued until the 1920s, with one of the most famous final burials being that of Rosalia Lombardo. In all, the catacombs host nearly 8000 mummies.

 

The most recent discovery of mummies in Italy came in 2010, when sixty mummified human remains were found in the crypt of the Conversion of St Paul church in Roccapelago di Pievepelago, Italy. Built in the 15th Century as a cannon hold and later converted in the 16th Century, the crypt had been sealed once it had reached capacity, leaving the bodies to be protected and preserved. The crypt was reopened during restoration work on the church, revealing the diverse array of mummies inside. The bodies were quickly moved to a museum for further study.

 

NORTH AMERICA

The mummies of North America are often steeped in controversy, as many of these bodies have been linked to still-existing native cultures. While the mummies provide a wealth of historically-significant data, native cultures and tradition often demands the remains be returned to their original resting places. This has led to many legal actions by Native American councils, leading to most museums keeping mummified remains out of the public eye.

 

CANADA

Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi ("Long ago person found" in the Southern Tutchone language of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations), was found in August 1999 by three First Nations hunters at the edge of a glacier in Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada. According to the Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi Project, the remains are the oldest well preserved mummy discovered in North America. (It should be noted that the Spirit Cave mummy although not well preserved, is much older.) Initial radiocarbon tests date the mummy to around 550 years-old.

 

GREENLAND

In 1972, eight remarkably preserved mummies were discovered at an abandoned Inuit settlement called Qilakitsoq, in Greenland. The "Greenland Mummies" consisted of a six-month-old baby, a four-year-old boy, and six women of various ages, who died around 500 years ago. Their bodies were naturally mummified by the sub-zero temperatures and dry winds in the cave in which they were found.

 

MEXICO

Intentional mummification in pre-Columbian Mexico was practiced by the Aztec culture. These bodies are collectively known as Aztec mummies. Genuine Aztec mummies were "bundled" in a woven wrap and often had their faces covered by a ceremonial mask. Public knowledge of Aztec mummies increased due to traveling exhibits and museums in the 19th and 20th centuries, though these bodies were typically naturally desiccated remains and not actually the mummies associated with Aztec culture. (See: Aztec mummy)

 

Natural mummification has been known to occur in several places in Mexico, though the most famous are the mummies of Guanajuato. A collection of these mummies, most of which date to the late 19th century, have been on display at El Museo de las Momias in the city of Guanajuato since 1970. The museum claims to have the smallest mummy in the world on display (a mummified fetus). It was thought that minerals in the soil had the preserving effect, however it may rather be due to the warm, arid climate. Mexican mummies are also on display in the small town of Encarnación de Díaz, Jalisco.

 

UNITED STATES

Spirit Cave Man was discovered in 1940 during salvage work prior to guano mining activity that was scheduled to begin in the area. The mummy is a middle-aged male, found completely dressed and lying on a blanket made of animal skin. Radiocarbon tests in the 1990s dated the mummy to being nearly 9,000 years old. The remains are currently held at the Nevada State Museum. There has been some controversy within the local Native American community, who began petitioning to have the remains returned and reburied in 1995.

 

AUSTRALIA

The aboriginal mummification traditions found in Australia are thought be related to those found in the Torres Strait islands, the inhabitants of which achieved a high level of sophisticated mummification techniques (See:Torres Strait). Australian mummies lack some of the technical ability of the Torres Strait mummies, however much of the ritual aspects of the mummification process are similar. Full-body mummification was achieved by these cultures, but not the level of artistic preservation as found on smaller islands. The reason for this seems to be for easier transport of bodies by more nomadic tribes.

 

NEW ZEALAND

Some Māori tribes from New Zealand would keep mummified heads as trophies from tribal warfare. They are also known as Mokomokai. In the 19th Century, many of the trophies were acquired by Europeans who found the tattooed skin to be a phenomenal curiosity. Westerners began to offer valuable commodities in exchange for the uniquely tattooed mummified heads. The heads were later put on display in museums, 16 of which being housed across France alone. In 2010, the Rouen City Hall of France returned one of the heads to New Zealand, despite earlier protests by the Culture Ministry of France.

 

There is also evidence that some Maori tribes may have practiced full-body mummification, though the practice is not thought to have been widespread. The discussion of Maori mummification has been historically controversial, with some experts in past decades claiming that such mummies have never existed. Contemporary science does now acknowledge the existence of full-body mummification in the culture. There is still controversy, however, as to the nature of the mummification process. Some bodies appear to be spontaneously created by the natural environment, while others exhibit signs of deliberate practices. General modern consensus tends to agree that there could be a mixture of both types of mummification, similar to that of the ancient Egyptian mummies.

 

SOUTH AMERICA

The South American continent contains some of the oldest mummies in the world, both deliberate and accidental. The bodies were preserved by the best agent for mummification: the environment. Rather than developing elaborate processes such as later-dynasty ancient Egyptians, the early South Americans often left their dead in naturally dry or frozen areas, though some did perform surgical preparation when mummification was intentional. Some of the reasons for intentional mummification in South America include memorialization, immortalization, and religious offerings.

 

INCA MUMMIES

Several naturally-preserved, unintentional mummies dating from the Incan period have been found in the colder regions of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. These are collectively known as "ice mummies". The first Incan ice mummy was discovered in 1954 atop El Plomo Peak in Chile, after an eruption of the nearby volcano Sabancaya melted away ice that covered the body. The Mummy of El Plomo was a male child who was presumed to be wealthy due to his well-fed bodily characteristics. He was considered to be the most well-preserved ice mummy in the world until the discovery of Mummy Juanita in 1995.

 

Mummy Juanita was discovered near the summit of Ampato in the Peruvian section of the Andes mountains by archaeologist Johan Reinhard. Her body had been so thoroughly frozen that it had not been desiccated; much of her skin, muscle tissue, and internal organs retained their original structure. She is believed to be a ritual sacrifice, due to the close proximity of her body to the Incan capital of Cusco, as well as the fact she was wearing highly intricate clothing to indicate her special social status. Several Incan ceremonial artifacts and temporary shelters uncovered in the surrounding area seem to support this theory.

 

More evidence that the Inca left sacrificial victims to die in the elements, and later be unintentionally preserved, came in 1999 with the discovery of the Llullaillaco mummies on the border of Argentina and Peru. The three mummies are children, two girls and one boy, who are thought to be sacrifices associated with the ancient ritual of qhapaq hucha. Recent biochemical analysis of the mummies has revealed that the victims had consumed increasing quantities of alcohol and coca, possibly in the form of chicha, in the months leading up to sacrifice. The dominant theory for the drugging reasons that, alongside ritual uses, the substances probably made the children more docile. Chewed coca leaves found inside the eldest child's mouth upon her discovery in 1999 supports this theory.

 

SELF-MUMMIFICATION

Monks whose bodies remain incorrupt without any traces of deliberate mummification are venerated by some Buddhists who believe they successfully were able to mortify their flesh to death. Self-mummification was practiced until the late 1800s in Japan and has been outlawed since the early 1900s.

 

Many Mahayana Buddhist monks were reported to know their time of death and left their last testaments and their students accordingly buried them sitting in lotus position, put into a vessel with drying agents (such as wood, paper, or lime) and surrounded by bricks, to be exhumed later, usually after three years. The preserved bodies would then be decorated with paint and adorned with gold.

 

Bodies purported to be those of self-mummified monks are exhibited in several Japanese shrines, and it has been claimed that the monks, prior to their death, stuck to a sparse diet made up of salt, nuts, seeds, roots, pine bark, and urushi tea.

 

PLASTINATION

Plastination is a technique used in anatomy to conserve bodies or body parts. The water and fat are replaced by certain plastics, yielding specimens that can be touched, do not smell or decay, and even retain most microscopic properties of the original sample.

 

The technique was invented by Gunther von Hagens when working at the anatomical institute of the Heidelberg University in 1978. Von Hagens has patented the technique in several countries and is heavily involved in its promotion, especially as the creator and director of the Body Worlds traveling exhibitions, exhibiting plastinated human bodies internationally. He also founded and directs the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg.

 

More than 40 institutions worldwide have facilities for plastination, mainly for medical research and study, and most affiliated to the International Society for Plastination.

Treatment of ancient mummies in modern times

 

In the Middle Ages, based on a mistranslation from the Arabic term for bitumen, it was thought that mummies possessed healing properties. As a result, it became common practice to grind Egyptian mummies into a powder to be sold and used as medicine. When actual mummies became unavailable, the sun-desiccated corpses of criminals, slaves and suicidal people were substituted by mendacious merchants. The practice developed into a wide-scale business that flourished until the late 16th century. Two centuries ago, mummies were still believed to have medicinal properties to stop bleeding, and were sold as pharmaceuticals in powdered form as in mellified man. Artists also made use of Egyptian mummies; a brownish pigment known as mummy brown, based on mummia (sometimes called alternatively caput mortuum, Latin for death's head), which was originally obtained by grounding human and animal Egyptian mummies. It was most popular in the 17th century, but was discontinued in the early 19th century when its composition became generally known to artists who replaced the said pigment by a totally different blend -but keeping the original name, mummia or mummy brown-yielding a similar tint and based on ground minerals (oxides and fired earths) and or blends of powdered gums and oleoresins (such as myrrh and frankincense) as well as ground bitumen. These blends appeared on the market as forgeries of powdered mummy pigment but were ultimately considered as acceptable replacements, once antique mummies were no longer permitted to be destroyed. Many thousands of mummified cats were also sent from Egypt to England to be processed for use in fertilizer.

 

During the 19th century, following the discovery of the first tombs and artifacts in Egypt, Egyptology was a huge fad in Europe, especially in Victorian England. European aristocrats would occasionally entertain themselves by purchasing mummies, having them unwrapped, and holding observation sessions. These sessions destroyed hundreds of mummies, because the exposure to the air caused them to disintegrate.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad 2-10-4 Class M-4 6312 presumed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on an unknown date in 1927, photograph by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Chuck Zeiler collection. Number 6312 was built by Baldwin as Class M-4 in October 1927 ( c/n 60252 ), converted to class M-4-A in January 1940 by application of 28X22 cylinders, roller bearings and cross counter balance ( main wheels only ), and sold for scrap in May 1961. The following is from the Burlington Route Historical Society's Bulletin 21, 'The Q's Colorado Types', by Hol Wagner:

 

In the latter part of 1927, the Burlington received from the Baldwin Locomotive Works 12 locomotives of the 2-10-4 wheel arrangement, commonly called the Texas type ( Colorado on the CB&Q ) after the design's origin on the Texas & Pacific in 1925. Numbered 6310-6321 and classed M-4, the Burlington engines (known on the Q as the Colorado types) were the largest and most powerful two-cylinder locomotives built up to that time. They were designed to replace 2-10-2's on southern Illinois coal drags over the Beardstown Division and in doing so to increase tonnage per train, obtain the greatest fuel economy possible and reduce the amount of overtime paid to crews on the slower 2-10-2's.

 

The boilers of the M-4's were of the radial stay, inverted wagon-top design, 92 inches in diameter at the first stay ring, and 104 inches across at the throat. The barrel contained 87 2½-inch firetubes and 222 3½-inch superheater tubes. The large firebox, carried above the trailing truck, was 150 inches long by 102 inches wide inside the sheets, giving it a grate area of 106.5 square feet. It was equipped with a combustion chamber and arch tubes. Southern Illinois bituminous coal was the locomotives intended fuel, and it was supplied to the firebox by a Duplex stoker. A low steam dome was centrally located on the boiler barrel, and was flanked fore and aft by large sand domes. Engines 6310-6315 were equipped with Elesco feedwater heaters, while engines 6316-6321 had Worthington BL heaters. All 12 locomotives were outfitted with Strombos quadruplex air whistles ( actually horns ) mounted atop the boiler just ahead of the front sand dome. These air horns were in vogue for a brief period of time during the late Twenties and were applied to a number of Burlington locomotives.

Original manufacturer's label on asbestos pipe insulation observed above a suspended ceiling system during an asbestos building survey.

 

The bright orange with black print paper sticker indicates: "K & M - best in asbestos - Duplex - 1" Copper Tubing - Keasbey & Mattison Company - Ambler, Pennsylvania"; with an illustrated outline of a cat jumping through flames.

 

Of note, this section of pipe TSI appears in overall "fair" condition, with original outer fabric covering and brass banding straps intact.

 

"Duplex" pipe insulation typically refers to a "paper" type of TSI, usually comprising dense layers of non-ACM cellulosic material with an inner lining of bituminous asbestos-containing felt ("tar-paper") in contact with the pipe's surface; often associated with cold water pipe systems.

Damaged section of a "paper" style of asbestos-containing pipe insulation showing typical layers associated with "Duplex" type TSI.

 

In this example, various layers of the insulation can be distinguished, starting with: non-ACM outer fabric wrap; dense, brown, non-ACM cellulosic material; and inner bituminous, black ACM felt paper ("asbestos tar-paper").

 

This damaged section of asbestos-containing pipe insulation was found on an abandoned pipe system within a column pipe chase through an access hatch during an asbestos building survey.

Asphalt (US Listeni/ˈæsfɔːlt/ or UK /ˈæsfælt/,[1][2] occasionally /ˈæʃfɔːlt/), also known as bitumen (US /bɪˈtjuːmən, baɪ-/,[3][4] UK /ˈbɪtjᵿmən/[5]) is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product; it is a substance classed as a pitch. Until the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used.[6] The word is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄσφαλτος ásphaltos.[7]

 

The primary use (70%) of asphalt/bitumen is in road construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt and for sealing flat roofs.[8]

 

source: wikipedia

Atchison Coal Mine, Atchison, Kansas (1907) View reverse.

 

Visible landmarks:

Coal Mine

List of landmarks visible at the Atchison History project.

 

History

The 1907 Engineering index annual lists this colliery as the deepest bituminous coal mine in the US, a three foot vein worked longwall fashion.

 

A 1907 issue of the Journal of the Iron and Steel institute gives a more detailed summary and hints at the ultimate cause of its failure:

 

CM Young states that the deep colliery being worked at Atchison Kansas is deeper than any other bituminous coal mine in the United States At a depth of 1126 feet a bed of coal 3 feet in thickness and of excellent quality was found In order to settle the question as to the existence of coal at a greater depth drilling was carried on until the Mississippian limestones had been reached and penetrated to a depth of 38 feet Three beds of coal were penetrated below this 3 foot bed but they are not of sufficient thickness to make working profitable under existing conditions At present the mine is operated through one three compartment shaft Two compartments of the shaft are used for hoisting and downcast and the third constitutes the upcast and pipeway The coal is taken out by the long wall method which is probably the only method adapted to the conditions The mine is very wet about 1200 gallons of water being taken out per hour The present output is about 170 tons per day An analysis of the coal is as follows Fixed carbon 46 53 volatile and combustible matter 43 29 ash 6 04 moisture 3 13 total sulphur 2 27 volatile sulphur 1 17 per cent

 

The most detailed account of the Atchison mine comes from the July, 1907 Colliery Engineer (p537), which uses this image as a figure.

  

THE ATCHISON MINE

 

At Atchison, Kansas—The Deepest Bituminous Coal Mine in the United States—A Three-foot Bed Worked Longwall

 

Written for "Mines and Minerals," by Prof. C. M. Young

 

The deep colliery being worked at Atchison, Kan., is of interest because of its depth, which is greater than that of any other bituminous mine in the United States and greater than that of any other mine in the Middle West; and also because of some of the conditions encountered, which add to the difficulty of operation.

 

The enterprise is one in which a large part of the population of Atchison is interested, the prospect hole having been sunk by a citizens' committee and part of the necessary funds having been secured through action of the city council.

 

The greater part of the coal mined in Kansas is taken from the southeastern part of the state, but a bed averaging about 2 feet in thickness has been worked for several years at Leavenworth. Prospect holes had been sunk in the neighborhood of Atchison, but churn drills were used, and though the records of these holes showed no encouraging results, there were rumors that the true story of the operations had never been told. It was even more than hinted that coal had really been found and that the records had been suppressed. A case of similar dishonesty in the Joplin district once came to the writer's notice, but in this case the driller, by his false report, secured the mining rights to the land and developed a mine.

 

Realizing the great benefits to be secured by the development of a coal mine near Atchison, a large number of the citizens of the town organized themselves into a company to sink a prospect hole, and that there might be no possible inaccuracy in the report of the results, the State Geological Survey took charge of the cuttings. The hole was sunk with a diamond drill and the entire core, with the exception of some coal removed for analysis, is preserved at the state university.

 

It was known that coal, if it existed, would be found above the Mississippian Limestone, which was supposed to lie 1,200 or 1,300 feet below the surface. With the idea of going to a depth of 1,500 feet if necessary, and of permanently deciding the coal question, as far as a drill hole could do so, the drilling was commenced in July, 1900. At the depth of 799 feet a bed of coal, 1 foot 10 inches in thickness was found. As this depth corresponds to that of the Leavenworth coal, and as the two coals are similar in quality, it is supposed that they belong to the same bed. When the core containing this coal was removed, it was found that the contact plane of the coal and the subjacent fireclay made an angle of about 45 degrees with the vertical. This probably indicates the penetration of a horseback. The coal of this bed is dry and except for its thinness could be easily worked, but it is not very good in quality and no attempt has been made to mine it at Atchison.

 

At the depth of 879 feet a 9-inch bed of coal was penetrated and at or near the bottom of this seam salt water was found. At 1,008 feet water was found under sufficient pressure to flow from the casing.

 

When the drill had penetrated to a depth of 1,100 feet the work was almost abandoned. The drill experts in charge of the operation declared that money was being wasted. It is a very fortunate thing that hope was not entirely lost, for at the depth of 1,126 feet a bed of coal, 3 feet in thickness and of

[graphic]

 

Fig. 1. Surface Plant. Atchison Mine

 

excellent quality was found. In order that there might never be any question of the existence of coal at a greater depth, the drilling was continued until the Mississippian Limestone had been reached and penetrated to a depth of 38 feet. Three beds of coal were penetrated below this 3-foot bed but they are not of sufficient thickness to make working profitable under existing conditions. In all, eighteen beds of coal were penetrated and of this coal about 5 feet is unquestionably workable. The total cost of the drilling was about 84,700, roughlv $3.50 per foot.

 

At present, the mine is operated through one three-compartment shaft; though under the mining law of Kansas two shafts are required and a second shaft, designed to be the main hoisting shaft, will be sunk in the near future. Two compartments of the present shaft are used for hoisting and downcast and the third compartment constitutes the upcast and pipeway.

 

The ventilating current is actuated by an exhaust fan. The ventilation is very inefficient but it will probably be greatly improved when the new shaft is completed. The fan is belted to a motor. All other machinery is operated by steam.

 

The shaft is situated in a little valley in the bluffs bordering the Missouri River. It is about 20 rods from the track of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and about 1 mile from the freight yard at Atchison, so that cars are very easily handled. Water for the boilers and the compressor is pumped from the river, about 25 rods away, to a reservoir on top of one of the bluffs. Compressed air is used to operate pump but for no other purpose. The hoisting engine is two-cylinder, direct-connected.

 

The drum is 10 feet in diameter and 9 feet long and is lagged with wood. The hoisting ropes are of plow steel, 1J inches in diameter. A rope lasts about 1 year. The maximum hoisting speed is about 30 feet per second.

 

A feature of interest is the form of guides used in the hoisting shaft. These are 6 in. X 7 in. and are built up of oak plank 1 * in. x 7in.,spiked together, with all joints broken. These guides give much less trouble than solid ones.

 

The coal is taken out by the longwall method, which is probably the only

 

method adapted to the conditions. The only powder used is employed in breaking down the roof, which is a finegrained sandstone. The coal itself is very easily removed, as the immense roof pressure breaks it down as soon as it is undercut to a distance of even a few inches. In fact a little very light work with a pick brings it down with practically no undercutting in some places. The coal comes down so easily that no large lumps are produced and the screen makes only two grades, the ordinary market coal and slack. The "working" of the coal can be very easily heard as a constant crackling wherever the face is being attacked. No mules are employed, the cars being pushed by men. No attempt has been made to use coal-cutting machinery and it is doubtful if it would be advisable.

 

One of the great difficulties encountered is the swelling of the floor and this is so great that in driving galleries into the solid coal, the ground swells about 3 feet within 15 feet of the working face. The quantity of rock that must be removed because of this swelling is very great. The tracks are greatly disturbed and water accumulates next to the working face, aggravating the disagreeable features of mining. Below the coal is found, not the clay that is so common in the eastern mines, but sandstone and below this is shale. Below the shale is about 11 feet of firm standstone. It seems probable that the wet shale yields to the immense pressure and flows inwards and upwards. In fact the lateral movement is very evident in the walls. If this opinion is correct it would seem that the trouble could be largely obviated by taking up the floor instead of brushing the roof, and holding the walls in place with timbers. This plan has not been tried. The 10" X 10" caps of the timber sets have been bent and split by the rock movements and in some cases they are sheared off at the posts.'

 

The mine is very wet, about 1,200 gallons of water being taken out per hour. Pumps are used only to force the water from the depressions at the working face to a sump at the shaft. All the water is bailed out in buckets attached to the cages as shown in Fig. 2. As each bucket weighs 900 pounds and holds 750 gallons, or 6,260 pounds, it is evident that this weight of 7,160 pounds produces a severe strain on the ropes and engines. The water is very salty and is hard on pumps and pipes.

 

A little gas is found in the mine, but up to the present time the quantity has been too small to cause any explosions, though a few serious burns have been caused. The whole mine is so wet that no explosions of dust or of dust and gas together can occur.

 

Another disagreeable feature is the high temperature. A thermometer inserted in water at the end of a passage showed e temperature of 26° C. (78.8° F.), and as the ventilation at this point was very poor, this may probably be taken as the temperature of the rock.

 

The present output is about 170 tons a day and this will be greatly increased when the second shaft is completed and an adequate working face secured. This quality of the coal is so good that it should find a ready market, even if the product of the other mines of the region were not insufficient to supply the needs of the country Options on a large area of land on both sides of the river are held and in the future the output of the mine will probably be very large An analysis of Atchison coal is as follows Fixed carbon 46.53 volatile and combustible 4.3 29 ash 6.04 moisture 3.13 total sulphur 2.27 volatile sulphur 1.17

 

Vellore (formerly known as Rayavelur or Vellaimaanagar) is a sprawling city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore District in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of the Palar River in the north-eastern part of Tamil Nadu, the city has been ruled, at different times, by the Pallavas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Vijayanagar Empire, Rashtrakutas, Carnatic kingdom, and the British. Vellore has four zones (totally 60 wards) which cover an area of 87.915 km2 and has a population of 423,425 based on the 2001 census. It is located about 135 kilometres west of Chennai and about 210 kilometres east of Bengaluru. Vellore is about (100) Km South West of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. It is Hotspot City Of Bengaluru - Chennai National Highway. Vellore is administered by Vellore Municipal Corporation under a mayor. Vellore is part of Vellore (State Assembly Constituency) and Vellore (Lok Sabha constituency).

 

Vellore City is the home of two of India's top ten educational institutions, Christian Medical College & Hospital and VIT University. It is also a major centre for medical tourism in India.

 

Vellore region is the top exporter of finished leather goods in the country. Vellore leather accounts for more than 37% of the country's export of leather and leather-related products. Vellore is also home to several manufacturing and automobile companies such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, MRF Limited, TVS-Brakes India, Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives Limited, Greaves Cotton, ArcelorMittal Dhamm Processing, SAME Deutz-Fahr (Italy), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan) and KRAMSKI (Germany).

 

Vellore Fort, Government Museum, Science Park, Vainu Bappu Observatory, Amirthi Zoological Park, Religious places such as Jalakandeswarar Temple, Balamathi Hills [Murugan Temple)Vallimalai (Murugan Temple) Rathnagiri (Murugan temple) [Sripuram|Srilakshmi Golden Temple]], Big Mosque and St. John's Church and Yelagiri Hill station are the among top tourist attractions in and around Vellore.

 

The Government of India has released the next round of smart cities project list. The Tamil Nadu state district Vellore also got a place on the list of 27 cities in the project.

 

ETYMOLOGY

In Tamil, the word vel means spear that is seen as the weapon of Hindu god Murugan and oor means place. As per Hindu legend, Murugan is seen as a tribal hunter who appeared in a lotus pond with his weapon to attack the enemies. Thus "Vellore" is seen as the place where Murugan appeared.

 

As per another legend, the region was surrounded by Velan trees (Babul trees), resulting in the place to be called Vellore.

 

HISTORY

The recorded history of Vellore dates back to the ninth century, as seen from a Chola inscriptions in the Annamalaiyar Temple in Tiruvannamalai. Further inscriptions made before the ninth century indicate the rule of Pallava kings, whose capital was Kanchipuram.

 

The Chola Kings ruled over the region from 850 to 1280.[citation needed] After the rule of Cholas, it came under the Rashtrakutas, the later Cholas, Reddy's and Vijayanagar kings. The Vellore Fort was built during the time of Chinna Bommi reddy, a subordinate of the Vijayanagar kings Sadasivaraya and Srirangaraya during the third quarter of the 16th century.

 

During the 17th century, Vellore came under the dominion of the Nawab of the Carnatic. As the Mughal empire came to an end, the Nawab lost control of the town, with confusion and chaos ensuing after 1753. Subsequently, there were periods of Hindu and Muslim stewardship of the region. The poligars opposed British rule but were subdued. During the first half of the 19th century, the town came under British rule.

 

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Vellore is at 12.92°N 79.13°E, 220m above the mean sea level. The city has a semi-arid climate with high temperatures throughout the year and relatively low rainfall. It is in Vellore district of the South Indian state, Tamil Nadu, 135 km west of the state capital Chennai. Vellore lies in the Eastern Ghats region and Palar river basin. The topography is almost plain with slopes from west to east. There are no notable mineral resources. Black loam soil is found in parts of Vellore Taluk. The other type of soil in the city is chiefly gravelly, stony and sandy of the red variety.

 

Vellore experiences a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw). The temperature ranges from a maximum of 39.4 °C to a minimum of 18.4 °C. Like the rest of the state, April to June are the hottest months and December to January are the coldest. Vellore receives 1,034.1 mm of rainfall every year. The southwest monsoon, with an onset in June and lasting up to September, brings rainfall of 517.1 mm, with September being the rainiest month. The northeast monsoon which lasts from October to December brings rainfall of 388.4mm. The humidity ranges from 40%–63% during summer and 67%–86% during winter.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

According to 2011 census, Vellore had a population of 185,803 with a sex-ratio of 1,034 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 19,898 were under the age of six, constituting 10,093 males and 9,805 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 14.16% and .18% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the city was 77.15%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The city had a total of 42598 households. There were a total of 70,257 workers, comprising 297 cultivators, 395 main agricultural labourers, 4,387 in house hold industries, 59,281 other workers, 5,897 marginal workers, 59 marginal cultivators, 74 marginal agricultural labourers, 667 marginal workers in household industries and 5,097 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Vellore had 70.09% Hindus, 24.28% Muslims, 4.79% Christians, 0.02% Sikhs, 0.03% Buddhists, 0.51% Jains, 0.26% following other religions and 0.02% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.

 

As of 2001, out of the total area, 69.88% of the land was marked developed and 31.12% of the city remained undeveloped. Out of the developed area, 55.76% was used for residential purposes, 8.34% for commercial, 1.58% for industrial, 3.3% for educational, 16.46% for public and semi public and 10.12% for transport and communication. The population density is not uniform: It is high in areas like Arugandhampoondi and lower in the peripheral areas such as Poonthottam. The average density of the city is 241 persons per hectare.

 

ADMINISTRATION AND POLITICS

Vellore is the headquarters of the Vellore District. The town was constituted as a third-grade municipality in 1866, promoted to first-grade during 1947, selection-grade from 1970 and a municipal corporation from 1 August 2008. The Vellore municipal corporation has 60 wards and there is an elected councillor for each of those wards. The functions of the municipal corporation are devolved into six departments: general administration/personnel, Engineering, Revenue, Public Health, city planning and Information Technology (IT). All these departments are under the control of a Municipal Commissioner who is the executive head. The legislative powers are vested in a body of 60 members, one each from the 60 wards. The legislative body is headed by an elected Mayor assisted by a Deputy Mayor.

 

Vellore is a part of the Vellore & Katpadi and it elects 2 members to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years. From the 1977 elections, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the assembly seat once (in 1977 elections), four times by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (in 1980, 1984 and 1989), twice by Indian National Congress (INC) (in 1991 and 2001 elections) and twice by Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) (in 1996 and 2001 elections). The current MLA of Vellore constituency is P.Karthikeyan from DMK party.

 

Vellore is a part of the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency & Arakkonam_Lok_Sabha_constituency. It had the following six assembly constituencies before 2009 delimitation: Katpadi, Gudiyatham, Pernambut (SC), Anaicut Village, Vellore and Arni. After delimitation, it is currently composed of Vellore, Anaicut Village, Kilvazhithunaiankuppam (SC), Gudiyatham, Vaniyambadi and Ambur

 

From 1951, the Vellore parliament seat was held by the Indian National Congress for four times during 1957, 1962, 1989 and 1991 elections, AIADMK twice during 1984 and 2014 elections, CWL once during 1951 elections, and independent once during 1980 elections, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam five times during the 1967, 1971, 1996, 2004 and 2009 elections, once each by NCO during 1977 elections, and twice by Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) during 1998 and 1999 elections. The current Member of Parliament from the constituency is B. Senguttuvan from the AIADMK party.

 

Law and order is maintained by the Vellore subdivision of the Tamil Nadu Police headed by a deputy superintendent. There are four police stations in the town, with one of them being an all-women station. There are special units like prohibition enforcement, district crime, social justice and human rights, district crime records and special branch that operate at the district level police division headed by a superintendent of police.

 

ECONOMY

According to Indian Census of 2001, the urban workforce participation rate of Vellore is 43.64%. Vellore, being the headquarters of the district, has registered growth in the tertiary sector activities, with a corresponding decrease in the primary sector. Major employment is provided by the leather industry, agricultural trading and industries in and around the city. Approximately 83.35% of the workforce is employed in tertiary sector comprising transport, services and commerce. The secondary sector activities like manufacturing and household industries employs 13.52% of the workforce. Male workers participation (43.64%) is high compared to the female work participation (24.39%).

 

Hundreds of leather and tannery facilities are around Vellore and nearby towns, such as Ranipet, Ambur and Vaniyambadi. The Vellore district is the top exporter of finished leather goods in the country. Vellore leather accounts for more than 37% of the country's export of leather and leather-related products (such as finished leathers, shoes, garments and gloves). Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is one of the nine major government owned enterprises in the nation. The Boiler Auxiliaries Plant of BHEL in Ranipet is the industrial hub of Vellore. Chemical plants in the Ranipet-SIPCOT economic zone are a major source of income to the residents of Vellore. EID Parry is a sanitary-ware manufacturing company with 38% of the world's market share in bathroom accessories. Tirumalai Chemicals and Greaves are among the international brands that have their manufacturing units in the city. Automobile and mechanical companies of global Brands, including SAME Deutz-Fahr, TVS–Brakes India, Mitsubishi, Greaves Cotton and MRF have their manufacturing units in the area. Brakes India Sholingur's foundry division is located at Vellore-Sholingur and is a major employer in the area. Vellore is known as the Leather hub of India.

 

Asia's biggest explosives manufacturing company, Tamil Nadu Explosives Limited (TEL), is in Vellore at Katpadi. This is India's only government explosives company with more than a thousand employees.[clarification needed] The company is headed by a senior Indian Administrative Service officer. Kramski Stamping and Molding India Pvt Ltd, a German precision metal and plastic integrated-component manufacturing company with automotive, telecommunications, electronics and medical applications is in Erayankadu, near Vellore. Major businesses in the city center are on Officer's Line, Town Hall Road, Long Bazaar and Bangalore, Scudder, Arni, Gandhi and Katpadi Roads. Many boarding and lodging houses are in and around Scudder and Gandhi Roads. Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd. announced the launch of 14 Microsoft Innovation Centers (MICs) in India. Trichy, Vellore, Coimbatore, Madurai and Salem in Tamil Nadu.

 

Christian Medical College & Hospital (CMCH), on Ida Scudder Road in the heart of the city, is Vellore's largest private employer and has a large floating population from other parts of India and abroad. Lodging, hospitals and allied businesses are among the major sources of income generated in the central part of the city. The Government Vellore Medical College and Hospital (VMCH) is located at Adukamparai in Vellore. With the advent of hospitals such as Apollo KH Hospital in Melvisharam and Sri Narayani Hospital & Research Centre in Sripuram, coupled with colleges such as CMC & VIT and other engineering and science colleges, the health care industry is growing rapidly.

 

The mainstay for people in the rural areas, more than agriculture, is industries such as weaving, beedi and matchstick rolling. The Indian Army has a number of recruits from the Vellore district (especially from Kammavanpet, which is known as "the military village") and military spending is a major sources of income.

 

EDUCATION

Vellore is considered a prominent destination for medical and technological education in India. It has a state-government university, a private technological university, one government and one private medical school and several engineering and arts and science colleges.

 

The country's first stem-cell translational research centre was established in Vellore in December 2005. The central government's biotechnology department selected the Christian Medical College (CMC) as the first in a series of centers, since it already had world-class clinical hematology and biochemistry departments. The college has made a breakthrough which attracted the attention of the country's medical and scientific community: the Centre for Stem Cell Research at the Christian Medical College succeeded in reprogramming cells from adult mice to make them function like stem cells found in the human embryo. The agricultural research station at Virinjipuram is in the Northeastern Zone of Tamil Nadu. It is one of 32 research stations of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU). The Government of India-sponsored National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA) scheme has been in operation since October 1997, with the main objective being trials of conservation measures conducted in water and soil of 18 watersheds in the Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts.

 

Thiruvalluvar University was split off from the University of Madras, previously in the Vellore Fort campus. Nearly all the government-run arts and science colleges in Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Cuddalore districts are affiliated with Thiruvalluvar University. Thanthai Periyar Government Institute of Technology is the only government engineering college in Vellore. The Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) has been ranked best private engineering university in India by the magazine India Today.

 

Christian Medical College & Hospital (CMCH), one of the largest hospitals in India and Asia, is based out of Vellore. It is a major health care provider for the surrounding districts.

 

Auxilium Women's College (founded in 1954) is the first women's college in Vellore district; Other arts and sciences colleges in the city are the Dhanabakyam Krishnaswamy Mudhaliar Women's College (DKM) near Sainathapuram and the Muthurangam Government Arts College (MGAC) in Otteri, near Bagayam. Voorhees College (founded 1898) is the oldest college in the district and known as the institution where S. Radhakrishnan (former president of India) studied; a commemorative stamp for the centenary of the college was issued by the government of India. C. Abdul Hakeem College is in Melvisharam. Arignar Anna Arts College for Women(AAA) is located in Walajapet.

 

The Government Law College, Vellore was established in 2008. It offers a three-year Bachelor of Laws (BL) degree with an annual intake of 80 students. The college is in Katpadi, Vellore. There are several Arabic colleges in Vellore such as the Madrasa Al-Baqiyathus Salihath, popularly known as Baaqiyaath, founded by A'la Hadrat Maulana Shah Abdul Wahab, which is the second oldest Arabic college in India after Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh.

 

TOURISM

Vellore Fort is the most prominent landmark in the city. During British rule, Tipu Sultan's family and the last king of Sri Lanka, Vikrama Rajasinha, were held as royal prisoners in the fort. The fort houses a church, a mosque and a Hindu temple, the latter known for its carvings. The first rebellion against British rule erupted at this fort in 1806, and it witnessed the massacre of the Vijayanagara royal family of Emperor Sriranga Raya. The fortifications consist of a main rampart, broken at irregular intervals by round towers and rectangular projections. The main walls are built of massive granite stones, surrounded by a broad moat fed with water by subterranean pipes from the Suryagunta reservoir.

 

Within the fort is the similarly aged Jalakanteswara Temple. It is a noteworthy example of military architecture in South India. The fort houses the Tipu Mahal where Tipu Sultan is believed to have stayed with his family during the war with the British; the graves of Tipu's sons are found at Vellore. It is administered by the Archaeological Survey of India. Vellore Fort has been declared a Monument of National Importance and is a noted tourist attraction.

 

The State Government Museum is inside the fort. It was opened to the public in 1985. It consists of objects of art, archaeology, prehistory, weapons, sculptures, bronzes, wood carvings, handicrafts, numismatics, philately, botany, geology and zoology. Historical monuments of the erstwhile composite North Arcot District are contained in the gallery. Special exhibits include a bronze double sword from Vellore Taluk dating to 400 BC, stone sculptures from the late Pallava to Vijayanagar periods, ivory chess boards and coins used by the last Kandian King of Sri Lanka, Vikrama Raja Singha. Educational activities at the museum include an art camp for school students and the study of inscriptions and iconography for college students.

 

Jalakandeswarar Temple, Srilakshmi Golden Temple, and the Wallajapet Dhanvantri Temple and Ponnai Navagraha Kottai Temple are among the temples in Vellore. Sri Lakshmi Temple, popularly known as Golden Temple, is a newly built temple and spiritual park in Thirumalaikodi, Vellore. It is approximately 8 km from the Vellore bus terminus. The temple covers an area of 100 acres and has been constructed by Vellore-based Sri Narayani Peedam headed by Sakthi Amma. It has intricate carvings, hand-made by hundreds of gold artisans specializing in temple architecture. The exterior is laid with gold sheets and plates, with construction reported to have cost Rs.300 crores (US$65 million). About 1,500 kg of gold was used, the largest amount in the world.

 

Ratnagiri Murugan Temple is another prominent Hindu temple in the city.Virinjipuram, 17 km from Vellore is noted for its 1000-year-old ancient Margabandeeshwarar Shiva temple.

 

Assumption Cathedral and the 150-year-old St. John's Church inside the fort are among the churches in Vellore. The Big Mosque, in the heart of the city, contains the largest Arabic college in India. The city is also houses over 50 mosques some of which are over 100 years old.

 

TRANSPORT

The Vellore municipality maintains 104.332 km of roads. It has 50.259 km concrete roads, 6.243 km kutcha roads and 47.88 km bituminous road. The National Highways passing through Vellore are NH 46 (Bangalore - Chennai road), NH 234 (Mangalore to Viluppuram) and NH 4 from Ranipet to Chennai and the Cuddalore-Chittoor. Vellore is connected with major cities in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Bus service is available to Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupathi, Kadapa, Anantapur, Salem, Chittoor, Kuppam, Kolar, Kolar Gold Fields, Madanapalle, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Karur, Pallapatti (Karur), Aranthangi, Mannargudi, Nagapattinam, Goa, Hosur, Nagercoil, Marthandam, Thoothukudi, Thiruchendur, Sengottai, Cuddalore, Kurnool, Trichy, Thuraiyur, Thammampatti, Thiruvannamalai, Tindivanam, Pondicherry, Kallakkurichi, Viluppuram, Kanyakumari, Arani, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Kanchipuram, Tiruttani, Kalpakkam, Pallikonda, Gudiyatham, Dharmapuri, Erode, Tirupur, Palakkad, Krishnagiri, Gingee and other major towns and cities in South India. Vellore is served by a city bus service, which connects the city, suburbs and other places of interest. The bus service extends about 30 km from the city center. There are two bus terminals: the Town Bus Terminus (opposite the fort and near CMC Hospital) and the Central Bus Terminus (Near Green Circle). Other bus terminals are located at Chittor Bus Stand (near VIT Road), Bagayam and Katpadi(Junction bus stop). The bus stands are maintained by the Vellore Municipal Corporation.

 

Vellore has three main railway stations: Katpadi junction, Vellore Cantonment and Vellore Town. The largest is Vellore-Katpadi Junction, 5 km north of CMC hospital. This is a major railway junction on the Chennai-Bangalore broad-gauge line running to Chennai, Bangalore, Tirupati and Trichy. There are direct rail links to Vijayawada Junction, Tirupati, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Bangalore, Bhopal Junction, Mumbai, Mangalore, Tiruchchirapalli, Bilaspur, Korba, Patna, Ernakulam, Trivandrum, Kanniyakumari, Shirdi, Kanpur, Gaya, Dhanbad, Jammu Tawi, Madurai, Bhilai, Gwalior, Chennai Central, Howrah Station, New Delhi Railway Station, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Jaipur and other major cities. More than 150 trains cross the Vellore-Katpadi Junction daily.

 

Vellore Cantonment is in Suriyakulam on the Viluppuram-Tirupati broad gauge line, 8 km from Katpadi Junction. EMU and passenger trains to Tirupati, Chennai and Arakonnam depart from here. The 150-km broad gauge line was extended to Villupuram in January 2010 and connects Vellore and South Tamil Nadu; however, as of October 2010 it was not serviced by passenger trains. The line was opened for goods trains in June 2010. An EMU from Vellore Cantonment to Chennai Central was introduced on December 22, 2008. Vellore Town Station is in Konavattam on the line connecting Katpadi Junction with Viluppuram Junction via Tiruvannamalai.

 

The city has an airstrip near Abdullapuram; as of 2010 it was not open to the public and was used for aeronautical training programmes. The nearest international airports are Chennai International Airport (130 km) and Bengaluru International Airport (230 km); the nearest domestic airport is Tirupati Airport (100 km).

 

UTILITY SERVICES

Electricity supply to Vellore is regulated and distributed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). The city and its suburbs forms the Vellore Electricity Distribution Circle. A chief distribution engineer is stationed at the regional headquarters. Water supply is provided by the Vellore municipal corporation from the Palar river through Palar headworks and Karungamputhur headworks and distributed through ten overhead tanks. As of 2005, there were 16,371 connections against 33,772 households. In 2000–2001, a total of 7.4 million litres of water was supplied daily for households in the city. The other sources of water are Otteri Lake, Sathuvancheri town panchayat, Ponnai and street bore wells.

 

As per the municipal data for 2011, about 83 metric tonnes of solid waste were collected from Vellore every day by door-to-door collection. The source segregation and dumping was carried out by the sanitary department of the Vellore municipal corporation. The municipal corporation covered 16 wards for waste collection as of 2001. There is no underground drainage system and the sewerage system for disposal of sullage is through septic tanks, open drains and public conveniences. The municipal corporation maintained 145 km of storm water drains in 2011. As of 2011, 24 government and private hospitals and one veterinary hospital take care of the health care needs of the citizens. As of 2011, the municipal corporation maintained 5,241 street lamps: 735 sodium lamps, 73 mercury vapour lamps, 4,432 tube lights and one high mast beam lamp. The municipal corporation operates the Nethaji Daily Market that caters to the needs of the city and the rural areas around it.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Fforio/Explore : Cwm Coke Works

 

Cwm Coke Works

1958 - 2002

"In the 1970s, the cokeworks employed 1,500 men and produced some 515,000 tonnes of coke each year. It continued to do so until 1986, when coal was privatised."

llantwitfardrecommunitycouncil.org

 

"Coke is a fuel with few impurities and a high carbon content, usually made from coal. It is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Coke made from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made. The form known as petroleum coke, or pet coke, is derived from oil refinery coker units or other cracking processes."

Wiki

 

Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad 4-8-2 Class B-1-A 7008 presumed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on an unknown day in July 1925, photograph by Baldwin Locomotive Works, print by H. L. Broadbelt, Chuck Zeiler collection. Number 7008 was built by Baldwin in July 1925 ( c/n 58482 ) and retired in July 1953. The following is from the book, Steam Locomotives Of The Burlington Route, by Bernard G. Corbin and William F, Kerka:

 

The first Mountain type engines ( built by Lima ) proved so successful that thirteen similar engines, No. 7008 - 7020 were ordered from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1925 and classed B-1-A. They were nearly 1800 lb. heavier than the B-1 engines, but developed the same tractive force. Seven were designed to burn lignite fuel and six to burn bituminous coal. The running gear of the B-1-A engines followed the design of the S-3 Pacifics in that heat-treated alloy steel was used for the piston rods, cross-head pins, crank pins, driving axles, main and side rods, and side rod knuckle pins. The cylinders had 14" diameter piston valves operated by Walschaerts link motion. Feedwater heaters of the Worthington type were used, although engine 7011 was furnished with an Elesco system. Delta B trailing trucks were fitted on the B-1-A 4-8-2 types, and six-wheel trucks of the Commonwealth type were used on the tenders.

Vellore (formerly known as Rayavelur or Vellaimaanagar) is a sprawling city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore District in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of the Palar River in the north-eastern part of Tamil Nadu, the city has been ruled, at different times, by the Pallavas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Vijayanagar Empire, Rashtrakutas, Carnatic kingdom, and the British. Vellore has four zones (totally 60 wards) which cover an area of 87.915 km2 and has a population of 423,425 based on the 2001 census. It is located about 135 kilometres west of Chennai and about 210 kilometres east of Bengaluru. Vellore is about (100) Km South West of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. It is Hotspot City Of Bengaluru - Chennai National Highway. Vellore is administered by Vellore Municipal Corporation under a mayor. Vellore is part of Vellore (State Assembly Constituency) and Vellore (Lok Sabha constituency).

 

Vellore City is the home of two of India's top ten educational institutions, Christian Medical College & Hospital and VIT University. It is also a major centre for medical tourism in India.

 

Vellore region is the top exporter of finished leather goods in the country. Vellore leather accounts for more than 37% of the country's export of leather and leather-related products. Vellore is also home to several manufacturing and automobile companies such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, MRF Limited, TVS-Brakes India, Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives Limited, Greaves Cotton, ArcelorMittal Dhamm Processing, SAME Deutz-Fahr (Italy), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan) and KRAMSKI (Germany).

 

Vellore Fort, Government Museum, Science Park, Vainu Bappu Observatory, Amirthi Zoological Park, Religious places such as Jalakandeswarar Temple, Balamathi Hills [Murugan Temple)Vallimalai (Murugan Temple) Rathnagiri (Murugan temple) [Sripuram|Srilakshmi Golden Temple]], Big Mosque and St. John's Church and Yelagiri Hill station are the among top tourist attractions in and around Vellore.

 

The Government of India has released the next round of smart cities project list. The Tamil Nadu state district Vellore also got a place on the list of 27 cities in the project.

 

ETYMOLOGY

In Tamil, the word vel means spear that is seen as the weapon of Hindu god Murugan and oor means place. As per Hindu legend, Murugan is seen as a tribal hunter who appeared in a lotus pond with his weapon to attack the enemies. Thus "Vellore" is seen as the place where Murugan appeared.

 

As per another legend, the region was surrounded by Velan trees (Babul trees), resulting in the place to be called Vellore.

 

HISTORY

The recorded history of Vellore dates back to the ninth century, as seen from a Chola inscriptions in the Annamalaiyar Temple in Tiruvannamalai. Further inscriptions made before the ninth century indicate the rule of Pallava kings, whose capital was Kanchipuram.

 

The Chola Kings ruled over the region from 850 to 1280.[citation needed] After the rule of Cholas, it came under the Rashtrakutas, the later Cholas, Reddy's and Vijayanagar kings. The Vellore Fort was built during the time of Chinna Bommi reddy, a subordinate of the Vijayanagar kings Sadasivaraya and Srirangaraya during the third quarter of the 16th century.

 

During the 17th century, Vellore came under the dominion of the Nawab of the Carnatic. As the Mughal empire came to an end, the Nawab lost control of the town, with confusion and chaos ensuing after 1753. Subsequently, there were periods of Hindu and Muslim stewardship of the region. The poligars opposed British rule but were subdued. During the first half of the 19th century, the town came under British rule.

 

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Vellore is at 12.92°N 79.13°E, 220m above the mean sea level. The city has a semi-arid climate with high temperatures throughout the year and relatively low rainfall. It is in Vellore district of the South Indian state, Tamil Nadu, 135 km west of the state capital Chennai. Vellore lies in the Eastern Ghats region and Palar river basin. The topography is almost plain with slopes from west to east. There are no notable mineral resources. Black loam soil is found in parts of Vellore Taluk. The other type of soil in the city is chiefly gravelly, stony and sandy of the red variety.

 

Vellore experiences a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw). The temperature ranges from a maximum of 39.4 °C to a minimum of 18.4 °C. Like the rest of the state, April to June are the hottest months and December to January are the coldest. Vellore receives 1,034.1 mm of rainfall every year. The southwest monsoon, with an onset in June and lasting up to September, brings rainfall of 517.1 mm, with September being the rainiest month. The northeast monsoon which lasts from October to December brings rainfall of 388.4mm. The humidity ranges from 40%–63% during summer and 67%–86% during winter.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

According to 2011 census, Vellore had a population of 185,803 with a sex-ratio of 1,034 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 19,898 were under the age of six, constituting 10,093 males and 9,805 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 14.16% and .18% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the city was 77.15%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The city had a total of 42598 households. There were a total of 70,257 workers, comprising 297 cultivators, 395 main agricultural labourers, 4,387 in house hold industries, 59,281 other workers, 5,897 marginal workers, 59 marginal cultivators, 74 marginal agricultural labourers, 667 marginal workers in household industries and 5,097 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Vellore had 70.09% Hindus, 24.28% Muslims, 4.79% Christians, 0.02% Sikhs, 0.03% Buddhists, 0.51% Jains, 0.26% following other religions and 0.02% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.

 

As of 2001, out of the total area, 69.88% of the land was marked developed and 31.12% of the city remained undeveloped. Out of the developed area, 55.76% was used for residential purposes, 8.34% for commercial, 1.58% for industrial, 3.3% for educational, 16.46% for public and semi public and 10.12% for transport and communication. The population density is not uniform: It is high in areas like Arugandhampoondi and lower in the peripheral areas such as Poonthottam. The average density of the city is 241 persons per hectare.

 

ADMINISTRATION AND POLITICS

Vellore is the headquarters of the Vellore District. The town was constituted as a third-grade municipality in 1866, promoted to first-grade during 1947, selection-grade from 1970 and a municipal corporation from 1 August 2008. The Vellore municipal corporation has 60 wards and there is an elected councillor for each of those wards. The functions of the municipal corporation are devolved into six departments: general administration/personnel, Engineering, Revenue, Public Health, city planning and Information Technology (IT). All these departments are under the control of a Municipal Commissioner who is the executive head. The legislative powers are vested in a body of 60 members, one each from the 60 wards. The legislative body is headed by an elected Mayor assisted by a Deputy Mayor.

 

Vellore is a part of the Vellore & Katpadi and it elects 2 members to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years. From the 1977 elections, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the assembly seat once (in 1977 elections), four times by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (in 1980, 1984 and 1989), twice by Indian National Congress (INC) (in 1991 and 2001 elections) and twice by Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) (in 1996 and 2001 elections). The current MLA of Vellore constituency is P.Karthikeyan from DMK party.

 

Vellore is a part of the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency & Arakkonam_Lok_Sabha_constituency. It had the following six assembly constituencies before 2009 delimitation: Katpadi, Gudiyatham, Pernambut (SC), Anaicut Village, Vellore and Arni. After delimitation, it is currently composed of Vellore, Anaicut Village, Kilvazhithunaiankuppam (SC), Gudiyatham, Vaniyambadi and Ambur

 

From 1951, the Vellore parliament seat was held by the Indian National Congress for four times during 1957, 1962, 1989 and 1991 elections, AIADMK twice during 1984 and 2014 elections, CWL once during 1951 elections, and independent once during 1980 elections, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam five times during the 1967, 1971, 1996, 2004 and 2009 elections, once each by NCO during 1977 elections, and twice by Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) during 1998 and 1999 elections. The current Member of Parliament from the constituency is B. Senguttuvan from the AIADMK party.

 

Law and order is maintained by the Vellore subdivision of the Tamil Nadu Police headed by a deputy superintendent. There are four police stations in the town, with one of them being an all-women station. There are special units like prohibition enforcement, district crime, social justice and human rights, district crime records and special branch that operate at the district level police division headed by a superintendent of police.

 

ECONOMY

According to Indian Census of 2001, the urban workforce participation rate of Vellore is 43.64%. Vellore, being the headquarters of the district, has registered growth in the tertiary sector activities, with a corresponding decrease in the primary sector. Major employment is provided by the leather industry, agricultural trading and industries in and around the city. Approximately 83.35% of the workforce is employed in tertiary sector comprising transport, services and commerce. The secondary sector activities like manufacturing and household industries employs 13.52% of the workforce. Male workers participation (43.64%) is high compared to the female work participation (24.39%).

 

Hundreds of leather and tannery facilities are around Vellore and nearby towns, such as Ranipet, Ambur and Vaniyambadi. The Vellore district is the top exporter of finished leather goods in the country. Vellore leather accounts for more than 37% of the country's export of leather and leather-related products (such as finished leathers, shoes, garments and gloves). Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is one of the nine major government owned enterprises in the nation. The Boiler Auxiliaries Plant of BHEL in Ranipet is the industrial hub of Vellore. Chemical plants in the Ranipet-SIPCOT economic zone are a major source of income to the residents of Vellore. EID Parry is a sanitary-ware manufacturing company with 38% of the world's market share in bathroom accessories. Tirumalai Chemicals and Greaves are among the international brands that have their manufacturing units in the city. Automobile and mechanical companies of global Brands, including SAME Deutz-Fahr, TVS–Brakes India, Mitsubishi, Greaves Cotton and MRF have their manufacturing units in the area. Brakes India Sholingur's foundry division is located at Vellore-Sholingur and is a major employer in the area. Vellore is known as the Leather hub of India.

 

Asia's biggest explosives manufacturing company, Tamil Nadu Explosives Limited (TEL), is in Vellore at Katpadi. This is India's only government explosives company with more than a thousand employees.[clarification needed] The company is headed by a senior Indian Administrative Service officer. Kramski Stamping and Molding India Pvt Ltd, a German precision metal and plastic integrated-component manufacturing company with automotive, telecommunications, electronics and medical applications is in Erayankadu, near Vellore. Major businesses in the city center are on Officer's Line, Town Hall Road, Long Bazaar and Bangalore, Scudder, Arni, Gandhi and Katpadi Roads. Many boarding and lodging houses are in and around Scudder and Gandhi Roads. Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd. announced the launch of 14 Microsoft Innovation Centers (MICs) in India. Trichy, Vellore, Coimbatore, Madurai and Salem in Tamil Nadu.

 

Christian Medical College & Hospital (CMCH), on Ida Scudder Road in the heart of the city, is Vellore's largest private employer and has a large floating population from other parts of India and abroad. Lodging, hospitals and allied businesses are among the major sources of income generated in the central part of the city. The Government Vellore Medical College and Hospital (VMCH) is located at Adukamparai in Vellore. With the advent of hospitals such as Apollo KH Hospital in Melvisharam and Sri Narayani Hospital & Research Centre in Sripuram, coupled with colleges such as CMC & VIT and other engineering and science colleges, the health care industry is growing rapidly.

 

The mainstay for people in the rural areas, more than agriculture, is industries such as weaving, beedi and matchstick rolling. The Indian Army has a number of recruits from the Vellore district (especially from Kammavanpet, which is known as "the military village") and military spending is a major sources of income.

 

EDUCATION

Vellore is considered a prominent destination for medical and technological education in India. It has a state-government university, a private technological university, one government and one private medical school and several engineering and arts and science colleges.

 

The country's first stem-cell translational research centre was established in Vellore in December 2005. The central government's biotechnology department selected the Christian Medical College (CMC) as the first in a series of centers, since it already had world-class clinical hematology and biochemistry departments. The college has made a breakthrough which attracted the attention of the country's medical and scientific community: the Centre for Stem Cell Research at the Christian Medical College succeeded in reprogramming cells from adult mice to make them function like stem cells found in the human embryo. The agricultural research station at Virinjipuram is in the Northeastern Zone of Tamil Nadu. It is one of 32 research stations of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU). The Government of India-sponsored National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA) scheme has been in operation since October 1997, with the main objective being trials of conservation measures conducted in water and soil of 18 watersheds in the Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts.

 

Thiruvalluvar University was split off from the University of Madras, previously in the Vellore Fort campus. Nearly all the government-run arts and science colleges in Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Cuddalore districts are affiliated with Thiruvalluvar University. Thanthai Periyar Government Institute of Technology is the only government engineering college in Vellore. The Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) has been ranked best private engineering university in India by the magazine India Today.

 

Christian Medical College & Hospital (CMCH), one of the largest hospitals in India and Asia, is based out of Vellore. It is a major health care provider for the surrounding districts.

 

Auxilium Women's College (founded in 1954) is the first women's college in Vellore district; Other arts and sciences colleges in the city are the Dhanabakyam Krishnaswamy Mudhaliar Women's College (DKM) near Sainathapuram and the Muthurangam Government Arts College (MGAC) in Otteri, near Bagayam. Voorhees College (founded 1898) is the oldest college in the district and known as the institution where S. Radhakrishnan (former president of India) studied; a commemorative stamp for the centenary of the college was issued by the government of India. C. Abdul Hakeem College is in Melvisharam. Arignar Anna Arts College for Women(AAA) is located in Walajapet.

 

The Government Law College, Vellore was established in 2008. It offers a three-year Bachelor of Laws (BL) degree with an annual intake of 80 students. The college is in Katpadi, Vellore. There are several Arabic colleges in Vellore such as the Madrasa Al-Baqiyathus Salihath, popularly known as Baaqiyaath, founded by A'la Hadrat Maulana Shah Abdul Wahab, which is the second oldest Arabic college in India after Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh.

 

TOURISM

Vellore Fort is the most prominent landmark in the city. During British rule, Tipu Sultan's family and the last king of Sri Lanka, Vikrama Rajasinha, were held as royal prisoners in the fort. The fort houses a church, a mosque and a Hindu temple, the latter known for its carvings. The first rebellion against British rule erupted at this fort in 1806, and it witnessed the massacre of the Vijayanagara royal family of Emperor Sriranga Raya. The fortifications consist of a main rampart, broken at irregular intervals by round towers and rectangular projections. The main walls are built of massive granite stones, surrounded by a broad moat fed with water by subterranean pipes from the Suryagunta reservoir.

 

Within the fort is the similarly aged Jalakanteswara Temple. It is a noteworthy example of military architecture in South India. The fort houses the Tipu Mahal where Tipu Sultan is believed to have stayed with his family during the war with the British; the graves of Tipu's sons are found at Vellore. It is administered by the Archaeological Survey of India. Vellore Fort has been declared a Monument of National Importance and is a noted tourist attraction.

 

The State Government Museum is inside the fort. It was opened to the public in 1985. It consists of objects of art, archaeology, prehistory, weapons, sculptures, bronzes, wood carvings, handicrafts, numismatics, philately, botany, geology and zoology. Historical monuments of the erstwhile composite North Arcot District are contained in the gallery. Special exhibits include a bronze double sword from Vellore Taluk dating to 400 BC, stone sculptures from the late Pallava to Vijayanagar periods, ivory chess boards and coins used by the last Kandian King of Sri Lanka, Vikrama Raja Singha. Educational activities at the museum include an art camp for school students and the study of inscriptions and iconography for college students.

 

Jalakandeswarar Temple, Srilakshmi Golden Temple, and the Wallajapet Dhanvantri Temple and Ponnai Navagraha Kottai Temple are among the temples in Vellore. Sri Lakshmi Temple, popularly known as Golden Temple, is a newly built temple and spiritual park in Thirumalaikodi, Vellore. It is approximately 8 km from the Vellore bus terminus. The temple covers an area of 100 acres and has been constructed by Vellore-based Sri Narayani Peedam headed by Sakthi Amma. It has intricate carvings, hand-made by hundreds of gold artisans specializing in temple architecture. The exterior is laid with gold sheets and plates, with construction reported to have cost Rs.300 crores (US$65 million). About 1,500 kg of gold was used, the largest amount in the world.

 

Ratnagiri Murugan Temple is another prominent Hindu temple in the city.Virinjipuram, 17 km from Vellore is noted for its 1000-year-old ancient Margabandeeshwarar Shiva temple.

 

Assumption Cathedral and the 150-year-old St. John's Church inside the fort are among the churches in Vellore. The Big Mosque, in the heart of the city, contains the largest Arabic college in India. The city is also houses over 50 mosques some of which are over 100 years old.

 

TRANSPORT

The Vellore municipality maintains 104.332 km of roads. It has 50.259 km concrete roads, 6.243 km kutcha roads and 47.88 km bituminous road. The National Highways passing through Vellore are NH 46 (Bangalore - Chennai road), NH 234 (Mangalore to Viluppuram) and NH 4 from Ranipet to Chennai and the Cuddalore-Chittoor. Vellore is connected with major cities in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Bus service is available to Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupathi, Kadapa, Anantapur, Salem, Chittoor, Kuppam, Kolar, Kolar Gold Fields, Madanapalle, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Karur, Pallapatti (Karur), Aranthangi, Mannargudi, Nagapattinam, Goa, Hosur, Nagercoil, Marthandam, Thoothukudi, Thiruchendur, Sengottai, Cuddalore, Kurnool, Trichy, Thuraiyur, Thammampatti, Thiruvannamalai, Tindivanam, Pondicherry, Kallakkurichi, Viluppuram, Kanyakumari, Arani, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Kanchipuram, Tiruttani, Kalpakkam, Pallikonda, Gudiyatham, Dharmapuri, Erode, Tirupur, Palakkad, Krishnagiri, Gingee and other major towns and cities in South India. Vellore is served by a city bus service, which connects the city, suburbs and other places of interest. The bus service extends about 30 km from the city center. There are two bus terminals: the Town Bus Terminus (opposite the fort and near CMC Hospital) and the Central Bus Terminus (Near Green Circle). Other bus terminals are located at Chittor Bus Stand (near VIT Road), Bagayam and Katpadi(Junction bus stop). The bus stands are maintained by the Vellore Municipal Corporation.

 

Vellore has three main railway stations: Katpadi junction, Vellore Cantonment and Vellore Town. The largest is Vellore-Katpadi Junction, 5 km north of CMC hospital. This is a major railway junction on the Chennai-Bangalore broad-gauge line running to Chennai, Bangalore, Tirupati and Trichy. There are direct rail links to Vijayawada Junction, Tirupati, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Bangalore, Bhopal Junction, Mumbai, Mangalore, Tiruchchirapalli, Bilaspur, Korba, Patna, Ernakulam, Trivandrum, Kanniyakumari, Shirdi, Kanpur, Gaya, Dhanbad, Jammu Tawi, Madurai, Bhilai, Gwalior, Chennai Central, Howrah Station, New Delhi Railway Station, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Jaipur and other major cities. More than 150 trains cross the Vellore-Katpadi Junction daily.

 

Vellore Cantonment is in Suriyakulam on the Viluppuram-Tirupati broad gauge line, 8 km from Katpadi Junction. EMU and passenger trains to Tirupati, Chennai and Arakonnam depart from here. The 150-km broad gauge line was extended to Villupuram in January 2010 and connects Vellore and South Tamil Nadu; however, as of October 2010 it was not serviced by passenger trains. The line was opened for goods trains in June 2010. An EMU from Vellore Cantonment to Chennai Central was introduced on December 22, 2008. Vellore Town Station is in Konavattam on the line connecting Katpadi Junction with Viluppuram Junction via Tiruvannamalai.

 

The city has an airstrip near Abdullapuram; as of 2010 it was not open to the public and was used for aeronautical training programmes. The nearest international airports are Chennai International Airport (130 km) and Bengaluru International Airport (230 km); the nearest domestic airport is Tirupati Airport (100 km).

 

UTILITY SERVICES

Electricity supply to Vellore is regulated and distributed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). The city and its suburbs forms the Vellore Electricity Distribution Circle. A chief distribution engineer is stationed at the regional headquarters. Water supply is provided by the Vellore municipal corporation from the Palar river through Palar headworks and Karungamputhur headworks and distributed through ten overhead tanks. As of 2005, there were 16,371 connections against 33,772 households. In 2000–2001, a total of 7.4 million litres of water was supplied daily for households in the city. The other sources of water are Otteri Lake, Sathuvancheri town panchayat, Ponnai and street bore wells.

 

As per the municipal data for 2011, about 83 metric tonnes of solid waste were collected from Vellore every day by door-to-door collection. The source segregation and dumping was carried out by the sanitary department of the Vellore municipal corporation. The municipal corporation covered 16 wards for waste collection as of 2001. There is no underground drainage system and the sewerage system for disposal of sullage is through septic tanks, open drains and public conveniences. The municipal corporation maintained 145 km of storm water drains in 2011. As of 2011, 24 government and private hospitals and one veterinary hospital take care of the health care needs of the citizens. As of 2011, the municipal corporation maintained 5,241 street lamps: 735 sodium lamps, 73 mercury vapour lamps, 4,432 tube lights and one high mast beam lamp. The municipal corporation operates the Nethaji Daily Market that caters to the needs of the city and the rural areas around it.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Vellore (formerly known as Rayavelur or Vellaimaanagar) is a sprawling city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore District in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of the Palar River in the north-eastern part of Tamil Nadu, the city has been ruled, at different times, by the Pallavas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Vijayanagar Empire, Rashtrakutas, Carnatic kingdom, and the British. Vellore has four zones (totally 60 wards) which cover an area of 87.915 km2 and has a population of 423,425 based on the 2001 census. It is located about 135 kilometres west of Chennai and about 210 kilometres east of Bengaluru. Vellore is about (100) Km South West of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. It is Hotspot City Of Bengaluru - Chennai National Highway. Vellore is administered by Vellore Municipal Corporation under a mayor. Vellore is part of Vellore (State Assembly Constituency) and Vellore (Lok Sabha constituency).

 

Vellore City is the home of two of India's top ten educational institutions, Christian Medical College & Hospital and VIT University. It is also a major centre for medical tourism in India.

 

Vellore region is the top exporter of finished leather goods in the country. Vellore leather accounts for more than 37% of the country's export of leather and leather-related products. Vellore is also home to several manufacturing and automobile companies such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, MRF Limited, TVS-Brakes India, Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives Limited, Greaves Cotton, ArcelorMittal Dhamm Processing, SAME Deutz-Fahr (Italy), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan) and KRAMSKI (Germany).

 

Vellore Fort, Government Museum, Science Park, Vainu Bappu Observatory, Amirthi Zoological Park, Religious places such as Jalakandeswarar Temple, Balamathi Hills [Murugan Temple)Vallimalai (Murugan Temple) Rathnagiri (Murugan temple) [Sripuram|Srilakshmi Golden Temple]], Big Mosque and St. John's Church and Yelagiri Hill station are the among top tourist attractions in and around Vellore.

 

The Government of India has released the next round of smart cities project list. The Tamil Nadu state district Vellore also got a place on the list of 27 cities in the project.

 

ETYMOLOGY

In Tamil, the word vel means spear that is seen as the weapon of Hindu god Murugan and oor means place. As per Hindu legend, Murugan is seen as a tribal hunter who appeared in a lotus pond with his weapon to attack the enemies. Thus "Vellore" is seen as the place where Murugan appeared.

 

As per another legend, the region was surrounded by Velan trees (Babul trees), resulting in the place to be called Vellore.

 

HISTORY

The recorded history of Vellore dates back to the ninth century, as seen from a Chola inscriptions in the Annamalaiyar Temple in Tiruvannamalai. Further inscriptions made before the ninth century indicate the rule of Pallava kings, whose capital was Kanchipuram.

 

The Chola Kings ruled over the region from 850 to 1280.[citation needed] After the rule of Cholas, it came under the Rashtrakutas, the later Cholas, Reddy's and Vijayanagar kings. The Vellore Fort was built during the time of Chinna Bommi reddy, a subordinate of the Vijayanagar kings Sadasivaraya and Srirangaraya during the third quarter of the 16th century.

 

During the 17th century, Vellore came under the dominion of the Nawab of the Carnatic. As the Mughal empire came to an end, the Nawab lost control of the town, with confusion and chaos ensuing after 1753. Subsequently, there were periods of Hindu and Muslim stewardship of the region. The poligars opposed British rule but were subdued. During the first half of the 19th century, the town came under British rule.

 

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Vellore is at 12.92°N 79.13°E, 220m above the mean sea level. The city has a semi-arid climate with high temperatures throughout the year and relatively low rainfall. It is in Vellore district of the South Indian state, Tamil Nadu, 135 km west of the state capital Chennai. Vellore lies in the Eastern Ghats region and Palar river basin. The topography is almost plain with slopes from west to east. There are no notable mineral resources. Black loam soil is found in parts of Vellore Taluk. The other type of soil in the city is chiefly gravelly, stony and sandy of the red variety.

 

Vellore experiences a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw). The temperature ranges from a maximum of 39.4 °C to a minimum of 18.4 °C. Like the rest of the state, April to June are the hottest months and December to January are the coldest. Vellore receives 1,034.1 mm of rainfall every year. The southwest monsoon, with an onset in June and lasting up to September, brings rainfall of 517.1 mm, with September being the rainiest month. The northeast monsoon which lasts from October to December brings rainfall of 388.4mm. The humidity ranges from 40%–63% during summer and 67%–86% during winter.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

According to 2011 census, Vellore had a population of 185,803 with a sex-ratio of 1,034 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 19,898 were under the age of six, constituting 10,093 males and 9,805 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 14.16% and .18% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the city was 77.15%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The city had a total of 42598 households. There were a total of 70,257 workers, comprising 297 cultivators, 395 main agricultural labourers, 4,387 in house hold industries, 59,281 other workers, 5,897 marginal workers, 59 marginal cultivators, 74 marginal agricultural labourers, 667 marginal workers in household industries and 5,097 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Vellore had 70.09% Hindus, 24.28% Muslims, 4.79% Christians, 0.02% Sikhs, 0.03% Buddhists, 0.51% Jains, 0.26% following other religions and 0.02% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.

 

As of 2001, out of the total area, 69.88% of the land was marked developed and 31.12% of the city remained undeveloped. Out of the developed area, 55.76% was used for residential purposes, 8.34% for commercial, 1.58% for industrial, 3.3% for educational, 16.46% for public and semi public and 10.12% for transport and communication. The population density is not uniform: It is high in areas like Arugandhampoondi and lower in the peripheral areas such as Poonthottam. The average density of the city is 241 persons per hectare.

 

ADMINISTRATION AND POLITICS

Vellore is the headquarters of the Vellore District. The town was constituted as a third-grade municipality in 1866, promoted to first-grade during 1947, selection-grade from 1970 and a municipal corporation from 1 August 2008. The Vellore municipal corporation has 60 wards and there is an elected councillor for each of those wards. The functions of the municipal corporation are devolved into six departments: general administration/personnel, Engineering, Revenue, Public Health, city planning and Information Technology (IT). All these departments are under the control of a Municipal Commissioner who is the executive head. The legislative powers are vested in a body of 60 members, one each from the 60 wards. The legislative body is headed by an elected Mayor assisted by a Deputy Mayor.

 

Vellore is a part of the Vellore & Katpadi and it elects 2 members to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years. From the 1977 elections, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the assembly seat once (in 1977 elections), four times by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (in 1980, 1984 and 1989), twice by Indian National Congress (INC) (in 1991 and 2001 elections) and twice by Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) (in 1996 and 2001 elections). The current MLA of Vellore constituency is P.Karthikeyan from DMK party.

 

Vellore is a part of the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency & Arakkonam_Lok_Sabha_constituency. It had the following six assembly constituencies before 2009 delimitation: Katpadi, Gudiyatham, Pernambut (SC), Anaicut Village, Vellore and Arni. After delimitation, it is currently composed of Vellore, Anaicut Village, Kilvazhithunaiankuppam (SC), Gudiyatham, Vaniyambadi and Ambur

 

From 1951, the Vellore parliament seat was held by the Indian National Congress for four times during 1957, 1962, 1989 and 1991 elections, AIADMK twice during 1984 and 2014 elections, CWL once during 1951 elections, and independent once during 1980 elections, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam five times during the 1967, 1971, 1996, 2004 and 2009 elections, once each by NCO during 1977 elections, and twice by Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) during 1998 and 1999 elections. The current Member of Parliament from the constituency is B. Senguttuvan from the AIADMK party.

 

Law and order is maintained by the Vellore subdivision of the Tamil Nadu Police headed by a deputy superintendent. There are four police stations in the town, with one of them being an all-women station. There are special units like prohibition enforcement, district crime, social justice and human rights, district crime records and special branch that operate at the district level police division headed by a superintendent of police.

 

ECONOMY

According to Indian Census of 2001, the urban workforce participation rate of Vellore is 43.64%. Vellore, being the headquarters of the district, has registered growth in the tertiary sector activities, with a corresponding decrease in the primary sector. Major employment is provided by the leather industry, agricultural trading and industries in and around the city. Approximately 83.35% of the workforce is employed in tertiary sector comprising transport, services and commerce. The secondary sector activities like manufacturing and household industries employs 13.52% of the workforce. Male workers participation (43.64%) is high compared to the female work participation (24.39%).

 

Hundreds of leather and tannery facilities are around Vellore and nearby towns, such as Ranipet, Ambur and Vaniyambadi. The Vellore district is the top exporter of finished leather goods in the country. Vellore leather accounts for more than 37% of the country's export of leather and leather-related products (such as finished leathers, shoes, garments and gloves). Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is one of the nine major government owned enterprises in the nation. The Boiler Auxiliaries Plant of BHEL in Ranipet is the industrial hub of Vellore. Chemical plants in the Ranipet-SIPCOT economic zone are a major source of income to the residents of Vellore. EID Parry is a sanitary-ware manufacturing company with 38% of the world's market share in bathroom accessories. Tirumalai Chemicals and Greaves are among the international brands that have their manufacturing units in the city. Automobile and mechanical companies of global Brands, including SAME Deutz-Fahr, TVS–Brakes India, Mitsubishi, Greaves Cotton and MRF have their manufacturing units in the area. Brakes India Sholingur's foundry division is located at Vellore-Sholingur and is a major employer in the area. Vellore is known as the Leather hub of India.

 

Asia's biggest explosives manufacturing company, Tamil Nadu Explosives Limited (TEL), is in Vellore at Katpadi. This is India's only government explosives company with more than a thousand employees.[clarification needed] The company is headed by a senior Indian Administrative Service officer. Kramski Stamping and Molding India Pvt Ltd, a German precision metal and plastic integrated-component manufacturing company with automotive, telecommunications, electronics and medical applications is in Erayankadu, near Vellore. Major businesses in the city center are on Officer's Line, Town Hall Road, Long Bazaar and Bangalore, Scudder, Arni, Gandhi and Katpadi Roads. Many boarding and lodging houses are in and around Scudder and Gandhi Roads. Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd. announced the launch of 14 Microsoft Innovation Centers (MICs) in India. Trichy, Vellore, Coimbatore, Madurai and Salem in Tamil Nadu.

 

Christian Medical College & Hospital (CMCH), on Ida Scudder Road in the heart of the city, is Vellore's largest private employer and has a large floating population from other parts of India and abroad. Lodging, hospitals and allied businesses are among the major sources of income generated in the central part of the city. The Government Vellore Medical College and Hospital (VMCH) is located at Adukamparai in Vellore. With the advent of hospitals such as Apollo KH Hospital in Melvisharam and Sri Narayani Hospital & Research Centre in Sripuram, coupled with colleges such as CMC & VIT and other engineering and science colleges, the health care industry is growing rapidly.

 

The mainstay for people in the rural areas, more than agriculture, is industries such as weaving, beedi and matchstick rolling. The Indian Army has a number of recruits from the Vellore district (especially from Kammavanpet, which is known as "the military village") and military spending is a major sources of income.

 

EDUCATION

Vellore is considered a prominent destination for medical and technological education in India. It has a state-government university, a private technological university, one government and one private medical school and several engineering and arts and science colleges.

 

The country's first stem-cell translational research centre was established in Vellore in December 2005. The central government's biotechnology department selected the Christian Medical College (CMC) as the first in a series of centers, since it already had world-class clinical hematology and biochemistry departments. The college has made a breakthrough which attracted the attention of the country's medical and scientific community: the Centre for Stem Cell Research at the Christian Medical College succeeded in reprogramming cells from adult mice to make them function like stem cells found in the human embryo. The agricultural research station at Virinjipuram is in the Northeastern Zone of Tamil Nadu. It is one of 32 research stations of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU). The Government of India-sponsored National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA) scheme has been in operation since October 1997, with the main objective being trials of conservation measures conducted in water and soil of 18 watersheds in the Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts.

 

Thiruvalluvar University was split off from the University of Madras, previously in the Vellore Fort campus. Nearly all the government-run arts and science colleges in Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Cuddalore districts are affiliated with Thiruvalluvar University. Thanthai Periyar Government Institute of Technology is the only government engineering college in Vellore. The Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) has been ranked best private engineering university in India by the magazine India Today.

 

Christian Medical College & Hospital (CMCH), one of the largest hospitals in India and Asia, is based out of Vellore. It is a major health care provider for the surrounding districts.

 

Auxilium Women's College (founded in 1954) is the first women's college in Vellore district; Other arts and sciences colleges in the city are the Dhanabakyam Krishnaswamy Mudhaliar Women's College (DKM) near Sainathapuram and the Muthurangam Government Arts College (MGAC) in Otteri, near Bagayam. Voorhees College (founded 1898) is the oldest college in the district and known as the institution where S. Radhakrishnan (former president of India) studied; a commemorative stamp for the centenary of the college was issued by the government of India. C. Abdul Hakeem College is in Melvisharam. Arignar Anna Arts College for Women(AAA) is located in Walajapet.

 

The Government Law College, Vellore was established in 2008. It offers a three-year Bachelor of Laws (BL) degree with an annual intake of 80 students. The college is in Katpadi, Vellore. There are several Arabic colleges in Vellore such as the Madrasa Al-Baqiyathus Salihath, popularly known as Baaqiyaath, founded by A'la Hadrat Maulana Shah Abdul Wahab, which is the second oldest Arabic college in India after Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh.

 

TOURISM

Vellore Fort is the most prominent landmark in the city. During British rule, Tipu Sultan's family and the last king of Sri Lanka, Vikrama Rajasinha, were held as royal prisoners in the fort. The fort houses a church, a mosque and a Hindu temple, the latter known for its carvings. The first rebellion against British rule erupted at this fort in 1806, and it witnessed the massacre of the Vijayanagara royal family of Emperor Sriranga Raya. The fortifications consist of a main rampart, broken at irregular intervals by round towers and rectangular projections. The main walls are built of massive granite stones, surrounded by a broad moat fed with water by subterranean pipes from the Suryagunta reservoir.

 

Within the fort is the similarly aged Jalakanteswara Temple. It is a noteworthy example of military architecture in South India. The fort houses the Tipu Mahal where Tipu Sultan is believed to have stayed with his family during the war with the British; the graves of Tipu's sons are found at Vellore. It is administered by the Archaeological Survey of India. Vellore Fort has been declared a Monument of National Importance and is a noted tourist attraction.

 

The State Government Museum is inside the fort. It was opened to the public in 1985. It consists of objects of art, archaeology, prehistory, weapons, sculptures, bronzes, wood carvings, handicrafts, numismatics, philately, botany, geology and zoology. Historical monuments of the erstwhile composite North Arcot District are contained in the gallery. Special exhibits include a bronze double sword from Vellore Taluk dating to 400 BC, stone sculptures from the late Pallava to Vijayanagar periods, ivory chess boards and coins used by the last Kandian King of Sri Lanka, Vikrama Raja Singha. Educational activities at the museum include an art camp for school students and the study of inscriptions and iconography for college students.

 

Jalakandeswarar Temple, Srilakshmi Golden Temple, and the Wallajapet Dhanvantri Temple and Ponnai Navagraha Kottai Temple are among the temples in Vellore. Sri Lakshmi Temple, popularly known as Golden Temple, is a newly built temple and spiritual park in Thirumalaikodi, Vellore. It is approximately 8 km from the Vellore bus terminus. The temple covers an area of 100 acres and has been constructed by Vellore-based Sri Narayani Peedam headed by Sakthi Amma. It has intricate carvings, hand-made by hundreds of gold artisans specializing in temple architecture. The exterior is laid with gold sheets and plates, with construction reported to have cost Rs.300 crores (US$65 million). About 1,500 kg of gold was used, the largest amount in the world.

 

Ratnagiri Murugan Temple is another prominent Hindu temple in the city.Virinjipuram, 17 km from Vellore is noted for its 1000-year-old ancient Margabandeeshwarar Shiva temple.

 

Assumption Cathedral and the 150-year-old St. John's Church inside the fort are among the churches in Vellore. The Big Mosque, in the heart of the city, contains the largest Arabic college in India. The city is also houses over 50 mosques some of which are over 100 years old.

 

TRANSPORT

The Vellore municipality maintains 104.332 km of roads. It has 50.259 km concrete roads, 6.243 km kutcha roads and 47.88 km bituminous road. The National Highways passing through Vellore are NH 46 (Bangalore - Chennai road), NH 234 (Mangalore to Viluppuram) and NH 4 from Ranipet to Chennai and the Cuddalore-Chittoor. Vellore is connected with major cities in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Bus service is available to Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupathi, Kadapa, Anantapur, Salem, Chittoor, Kuppam, Kolar, Kolar Gold Fields, Madanapalle, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Karur, Pallapatti (Karur), Aranthangi, Mannargudi, Nagapattinam, Goa, Hosur, Nagercoil, Marthandam, Thoothukudi, Thiruchendur, Sengottai, Cuddalore, Kurnool, Trichy, Thuraiyur, Thammampatti, Thiruvannamalai, Tindivanam, Pondicherry, Kallakkurichi, Viluppuram, Kanyakumari, Arani, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Kanchipuram, Tiruttani, Kalpakkam, Pallikonda, Gudiyatham, Dharmapuri, Erode, Tirupur, Palakkad, Krishnagiri, Gingee and other major towns and cities in South India. Vellore is served by a city bus service, which connects the city, suburbs and other places of interest. The bus service extends about 30 km from the city center. There are two bus terminals: the Town Bus Terminus (opposite the fort and near CMC Hospital) and the Central Bus Terminus (Near Green Circle). Other bus terminals are located at Chittor Bus Stand (near VIT Road), Bagayam and Katpadi(Junction bus stop). The bus stands are maintained by the Vellore Municipal Corporation.

 

Vellore has three main railway stations: Katpadi junction, Vellore Cantonment and Vellore Town. The largest is Vellore-Katpadi Junction, 5 km north of CMC hospital. This is a major railway junction on the Chennai-Bangalore broad-gauge line running to Chennai, Bangalore, Tirupati and Trichy. There are direct rail links to Vijayawada Junction, Tirupati, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Bangalore, Bhopal Junction, Mumbai, Mangalore, Tiruchchirapalli, Bilaspur, Korba, Patna, Ernakulam, Trivandrum, Kanniyakumari, Shirdi, Kanpur, Gaya, Dhanbad, Jammu Tawi, Madurai, Bhilai, Gwalior, Chennai Central, Howrah Station, New Delhi Railway Station, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Jaipur and other major cities. More than 150 trains cross the Vellore-Katpadi Junction daily.

 

Vellore Cantonment is in Suriyakulam on the Viluppuram-Tirupati broad gauge line, 8 km from Katpadi Junction. EMU and passenger trains to Tirupati, Chennai and Arakonnam depart from here. The 150-km broad gauge line was extended to Villupuram in January 2010 and connects Vellore and South Tamil Nadu; however, as of October 2010 it was not serviced by passenger trains. The line was opened for goods trains in June 2010. An EMU from Vellore Cantonment to Chennai Central was introduced on December 22, 2008. Vellore Town Station is in Konavattam on the line connecting Katpadi Junction with Viluppuram Junction via Tiruvannamalai.

 

The city has an airstrip near Abdullapuram; as of 2010 it was not open to the public and was used for aeronautical training programmes. The nearest international airports are Chennai International Airport (130 km) and Bengaluru International Airport (230 km); the nearest domestic airport is Tirupati Airport (100 km).

 

UTILITY SERVICES

Electricity supply to Vellore is regulated and distributed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). The city and its suburbs forms the Vellore Electricity Distribution Circle. A chief distribution engineer is stationed at the regional headquarters. Water supply is provided by the Vellore municipal corporation from the Palar river through Palar headworks and Karungamputhur headworks and distributed through ten overhead tanks. As of 2005, there were 16,371 connections against 33,772 households. In 2000–2001, a total of 7.4 million litres of water was supplied daily for households in the city. The other sources of water are Otteri Lake, Sathuvancheri town panchayat, Ponnai and street bore wells.

 

As per the municipal data for 2011, about 83 metric tonnes of solid waste were collected from Vellore every day by door-to-door collection. The source segregation and dumping was carried out by the sanitary department of the Vellore municipal corporation. The municipal corporation covered 16 wards for waste collection as of 2001. There is no underground drainage system and the sewerage system for disposal of sullage is through septic tanks, open drains and public conveniences. The municipal corporation maintained 145 km of storm water drains in 2011. As of 2011, 24 government and private hospitals and one veterinary hospital take care of the health care needs of the citizens. As of 2011, the municipal corporation maintained 5,241 street lamps: 735 sodium lamps, 73 mercury vapour lamps, 4,432 tube lights and one high mast beam lamp. The municipal corporation operates the Nethaji Daily Market that caters to the needs of the city and the rural areas around it.

 

WIKIPEDIA

I don't know much about this building in particular but I believe there once used to be a town of 1,000 people or something like that in Michel. All the buildings except the Michel Hotel were bulldozed or moved to Sparwood to quote "Beautify Beautiful British Columbia". Maybe someone could clarify this for me. :)

 

Here is some history taken from Crowsnest Hwy.

www.crowsnest-highway.ca/cgi-bin/citypage.pl?city=SPARWOOD

Michel

 

Farthest east was the oldest of the valley’s settlements; Michel.

The CPR laid the rails of the B.C. Southern down this valley in the spring of 1898, and at the behest of CNP Coal, emplaced a siding and a little “Plan F-2-20-1” depôt which it named “Michel.” Within a year the mining company had crews hacking into the seams of coal at the foot of the Sparwood Ridge on the south side of the valley. Called “cannel coal,” its nugget-grade size, resistance to dusting and low ash content made it excellent locomotive fuel. It was classified as bituminous due to 68% of its weight being in fixed carbon. It ran to 23% in volatiles—methane, hydrogen, tar and ammonia—and averaged 7% ash. This meant that it should coke easily, and that that coke would, due to its low ash content, command top dollar from refineries and smelters. During its first few months of operation in 1899, the Michel mine output less than 500 tons of coal, but with the CPR’s encouragement, CNP Coal invested heavily in development and in 1900 the mine delivered more than 11,000 tons, about a tenth of the company’s entire output.

 

By 1900, writes W.J Cousins in A History of the Crow’s Nest Pass, the community of Michel consisted of 12 identical cottages, the Michel Hotel and a little store. The settlement mushroomed, consuming the valley’s thick growth of trees. The 1901 census enumerated 476 residents in the town, many having lost everything they owned after a fire wiped 23 houses and many other buildings on June 10th of that year. Likely helping to battle the blaze was August Baldauf and his crew, who had been hard at work since the spring of the year constructing a battery of 212 beehive coke ovens. Reports M.A. Kennedy in her 1979 thesis, Coke Ovens of the Crowsnest Pass, Baldauf and his men completed their contract by the end of the year at a cost of $705 per oven.

 

According to Michael Saad in “Mining Disasters and Rescue Operations at Michel Before World War Two” (The Forgotten Side of the Border, op. cit.), fire mauled Michel again in 1902 and 1903. In August of 1904, as CNP Coal’s 475 local workers were labouring towards the year’s production of over 235,250 tons of coal from Michel’s three mines, a two room school opened, though classes were presumably conducted before that, probably in the hotel or someone’s house. As well as a Post Office and a Trites-Wood Company store, Michel also hosted a branch of the Imperial Bank. In 1904, too, the construction of the 252 additional beehive ovens which CNP Coal had contracted the year before were completed, parading with the original battery in a double row beside the B.C. Southern’s trackage. From the coke plant workers output 95,000 tons that year.

 

Come 1907, report the authors of Photo Companion - Crowsnest and its people (Crowsnest Pass Historical Society, Coleman, Alberta, 1990), the population of Michel had swollen to some 1200 served by three churches. Electricity was supplied from the company’s powerhouse and a water system had been installed. The Michel Hotel was adjudged “first-class” under the proprietorship of Thomas Crahan, formerly of Wardner, B.C., and Morrissey. Because most structures were of wooden construction and all were becoming coated with coal dust, a Sisby fire engine was kept steaming at all times. Perhaps the one facility that made Michel an attractive place for miners to live and work was the brand new 6,000 square-foot wash-house which CNP Coal had built for its workers. With tubs and shower baths, hot water and ventilated lockers in which to hang wet and dirty work clothes, it was a luxury much appreciated by the men and their families. In one end of the building was an ambulance room where-in the community’s wound’s were treated.

 

Probably the most frightening event to befall the entire valley was the Great Fire of August, 1908. It began outside of Fernie, 35 kilometres away, and raged up the Elk’s valley and into the Michel’s. Such an awesome spectre was it that the women and children of the valley were ushered into boxcars and hauled over the Divide to Coleman for the duration of the battle. Despite the setback, CNP Coal added 22 more coke ovens to bring the total at Michel to 486, smoking 24 hours-per-day, each one capable of accepting an eight-ton charge of slack coal, but more commonly loaded with six-tons which took but 36 hours to reduce, rather than 56.

 

The treasured wash-house notwithstanding, in the new century workers were no longer prepared to meekly slave their lives away to improve their bosses standard of living. As the demand for Pass coal reached toward the 3.5 million ton mark that it would achieve in 1903, CNP Coal pressed its workers to increase production. The disputes between miner and manger that so frequently halted production at Coal Creek and made CP eager to develop its property at Hosmer also bedevilled labour relations at Michel. When miners at Coal Creek had walked out in June of 1901, their brothers at Michel were quick to follow. So it went through the years; the demands of capitalists fomenting resentment among the men in the mine, at the sharp end of the business. The peak of discontent was reached in 1911, when a Pass-wide walkout of unionized workers between March 31st and November 20th saw tensions explode into violence as company policemen supported by officers of the Provincial Police escorted “scabs” through lines of picketers. From Michel’s six mines 1020 workers had output 457,600 tons of coal and produced 78,500 tons of coke in 1910. Figures supplied by CNP Coal to the B.C. Department of Mines for 1912 reveal that many fewer than half of the 1910 workforce, 465 men, dug more than half of the 1910 tonnage—254,000 tons—and with 70,000 tons from the ovens nearly equalled the pre-strike coke production. There appears to have been a clear winner in the dispute.

 

The Michel Colliery worked steadily through the Great War, of course, and went through the same troubles that convulsed the rest of the Pass when the One Big Union led the miners’ fight for fair wages from the Western [Coal Operators Association.4 In 1922, the year that the mines were struck from April 1st to August 24th, Michel’s 613 workers output nearly 217,000 tons of coal and made 41,400 tons of coke. By 1924 the workforce had been pared to 470, and in the 118 days that the colliery was open, 148,000 and 30,600 tons of coal and coke were produced. That year was the low point of the decade, and come 1929, when 584 men in mines No.3, No.B, No.3 East and No.8 dug 342,000 tons.

 

Though the valley’s communities were separate entities politically, emotionally they were united. On Tuesday the 8th of August, 1916, lightning struck the New No.3 East mine’s haul rails and triggered three jolting explosions underground, blowing out the shafts, destroying surface plant. Twelve died, and although it was called by newspapers country-wide “the disaster at Michel,” through-out the valley families comforted grieving neighbours. Sudden death being ever a part of life in a coal town—the same mine had blown out on January 4th, 1904, killing seven miners and burning down half of Michel—the dead were quickly buried and the mine put back into production. Sadly, valley families were all too practised in funereal ritual. Records indicate that from 1902 to 1917 about 30 men and boys each year lost their lives in CNP Coal operations.

 

On the Friday of July 8th, 1938, lightning-struck rails touched off an explosion of coal dust suspended in the airways of the “B” Seam mine and three more died. By then, though, valley residents finally had a proper facility in which the injured could be treated. A bone of contention which had long strained labour relations had been the lack of a dedicated hospital in the valley. From early on medical facilities were maintained in various buildings in Michel and, later, in Natal, but it wasn’t until March of 1937 that the first permanent hospital was opened in a large three-storey’d house which CNP Coal had renovated for the purpose. Deductions from workers’ pay cheques maintained the service, buying supplies and paying staff. In October of 1963 a maternity unit was finally added.

 

The building of the hospital was not the only project CNP Coal was willing to undertake during the ‘30s. Demonstrating faith, if not foresight, in the market for coal, in 1932, in the depth of the Depression, the company constructed a new tipple at Michel. Though it was of the less expensive “dry sort” type, it was still a significant investment, and when it burned on October 25th and 26th of 1937, it was rebuilt. In 1939 one row of coke ovens—236 units—was levelled to make room for a battery of ten big Curran-Knowles by-product ovens which efficiently used the gases expelled during coking to sustain the process. These ovens, 40 feet long and tunnel-like with steel doors at either end and could accept an eight-ton charge. Unlike the beehives whose charge had to be levelled and then cleared by hand, the Curran-Knowles were served by a mechanical leveller/unloading ram which travelled along a wide quay on one side of the battery and shoved the finished coke out onto the loading quay on the other end of the ovens.

 

Perhaps desperate to keep workers as the Second World War sopped up men, in 1940 the company built a new washhouse.

On Thursday, Aug. 30 WSDOT contractor crews from Granite Construction added a final sealant layer to this stretch of highway north of Lynden on SR 539/The Guide. Crews had already done pavement repair, crack sealing and applied a preservation surface of oil and gravel to this area. Next up - striping!

Example of vintage, thick cork pipe insulation with a thin, black non-asbestos, bituminous tar-like outer coating and an asbestos-containing seam compound. The outer black coating is approx. 2-3mm thick, but did not test positive for asbestos. However, there is a black mastic compound applied along the sectional seams that did test positive for chrysotile asbestos.

 

This pipe fitting insulation, with manufacturer's name indentations indicates "Armstrong ; Brine", is shown partially damaged with a small section missing. The absent portion demonstrates the material's layers and how the pipe insulation is designed to surround the pipe. Also shown are original wire-bracings that keep the fitting insulation together on the pipe.

Title: [Fall Creek Bituminous Coal Company Locomotive]

 

Creator: Unknown

 

Date: ca. 1865-1875

 

Part of: Everett L. DeGolyer Jr. collection of United States railroad photographs

 

Physical Description: 1 photographic print: 13 x 18 cm

 

File: ag1982_0232_fcbcc_02563_r_sm_opt.jpg

 

Rights: Please cite DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University when using this file. A high-resolution version of this file may be obtained for a fee. For details see the sites.smu.edu/cul/degolyer/research/permissions/ web page. For other information, contact degolyer@smu.edu.

 

For more information, see: digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/rwy/id/881

 

Railroads: Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints: digitalcollections.smu.edu/all/cul/rwy/

Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad 4-8-2 Class B-1-A 7008 presumed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on an unknown day in July 1925, photograph by Baldwin Locomotive Works, print by H. L. Broadbelt, Chuck Zeiler collection. Number 7008 was built by Baldwin in July 1925 ( c/n 58482 ) and retired in July 1953. The following is from the book, Steam Locomotives Of The Burlington Route, by Bernard G. Corbin and William F, Kerka:

 

The first Mountain type engines ( built by Lima ) proved so successful that thirteen similar engines, No. 7008 - 7020 were ordered from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1925 and classed B-1-A. They were nearly 1800 lb. heavier than the B-1 engines, but developed the same tractive force. Seven were designed to burn lignite fuel and six to burn bituminous coal. The running gear of the B-1-A engines followed the design of the S-3 Pacifics in that heat-treated alloy steel was used for the piston rods, cross-head pins, crank pins, driving axles, main and side rods, and side rod knuckle pins. The cylinders had 14" diameter piston valves operated by Walschaerts link motion. Feedwater heaters of the Worthington type were used, although engine 7011 was furnished with an Elesco system. Delta B trailing trucks were fitted on the B-1-A 4-8-2 types, and six-wheel trucks of the Commonwealth type were used on the tenders.

"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.

 

A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.

 

This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.

 

The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.

 

Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.

 

The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.

 

Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.

 

There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.

 

It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.

 

In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.

 

Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.

 

Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.

 

However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.

 

There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.

 

CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.

 

Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.

 

UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.

 

For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu

  

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

47802 return the eighty plus miles back to Penzance using more expensive diesel fuel and scarce equally expensive bituminous lump coal. Start loading those ships in Australia and Colombia to come half way around the world and bung another few quid to our cuddly friends in Saudi Arabia.

This is the tipple at the Atlas Coal Mine.

 

From the official web site:

 

Coal was not hard to discover in the area that is now Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. Seams of coal show up as black stripes in the badlands of the Red Deer River Valley.

 

The Blackfoot and Cree knew about the black rock that burned, but they didn’t like to use it. Later, three white explorers reported coal in the area: Peter Fidler in 1792, Dr. James Hector of the Palliser Expedition in 1857, and Joseph Tyrrell in 1884.

 

In the years that followed, a handful of ranchers and homesteaders dug coal out of river banks and coulees to heat their homes. However, the first commercial coal mine did not open until Sam Drumheller started the coal rush in the area that now bears his name.

 

The rush started when Sam bought land off a local rancher named Thomas Greentree. Sam turned around and sold this land to Canadian National Railway, to develop a townsite. Sam also registered a coal mine. Before his mine opened, however, Jesse Gouge and Garnet Coyle beat him to it, and opened the Newcastle Mine. CN laid tracks into town, and the first load of coal was shipped out of Drumheller in 1911.

 

Once the railway was built, people poured in. Hundreds, then thousands, of people came to dig coal. The greatest numbers came from Eastern Europe, Britain, and Nova Scotia. More mines opened. By the end of 1912, there were 9 working coal mines, each with its own camp of workers: Newcastle, Drumheller, Midland, Rosedale, and Wayne. In the years that followed, more mines and camps sprang up: Nacmine, Cambria, Willow Creek, Lehigh, and East Coulee.

 

Coal mining was hard, dirty, dangerous work. Mining in the Drumheller Valley, however, was less hard, dirty, and dangerous than it was in many other coal mining regions in Canada. This was due to both lucky geology and lucky timing.

 

The geology of the Drumheller coal field results in flat lying seams, which are much safer to mine than the steeply pitching seams of the mountain mines. In addition, the coal produced in Drumheller is sub-bituminous. This grade of coal is “immature” which means it hasn’t had time to build up a strong concentration of gas. Methane gas is the biggest killer in coal mines around the world.

 

The timing of the Drumheller mine industry was lucky, too. By the time the Newcastle opened in 1911, the right to better working conditions had been fought for and won by miners’ unions in North America. As a result, miners were provided with wash houses, better underground ventilation, and higher safety standards. When the Newcastle opened, there were laws in place to prohibit child labour, so boys under 14 were no longer allowed underground. The worst of the worst coal mining days were over, at least in North America.

 

Nevertheless, early mine camps around Drumheller were called “hell’s hole” because miners lived in tents, or shacks, with little sanitation and little comfort. It was a man’s world, with drinking, gambling, and watching fistfights common forms of recreation. As shacks gave way to little houses, and women joined the men and started families, life improved. Hockey, baseball, music, theatre, and visiting friends enriched peoples’ lives. Going downtown Saturday night was a huge event, with every language in Europe spoken by the crowds spilling off the sidewalks. No longer “hell’s hole,” Drumheller became “the wonder town of the west!” and “the fastest growing town in Canada, if not in North America!”

 

Sub-bituminous coal is ideal for heating homes and cooking food. People all over western Canada heated their homes, schools, and offices with Drumheller coal. Long, cold winters were good for Drumheller, because everyone needed lots of coal. In these years, miners had of money in their pockets. Short, mild winters were difficult. A miner might only work one day a week, and get laid off in early spring. He got through the summer by growing a big garden, catching fish, and working for farmers.

 

Between 1911 and 1979, 139 mines were registered in the Drumheller valley. Some mines didn’t last long, but 34 were productive for many years. Between 1912 and 1966, Drumheller produced 56,864,808 tons of coal, making it one of the major coal producing regions in Canada.

 

The beginning of the end for Drumheller’s mining industry was the Leduc Oil Strike of 1948. After this, natural gas became the fuel of choice for home heating in western Canada. To the mine operators, it seemed that people switched from messy coal stoves to clean gas furnaces as fast as they could. As the demand for coal dropped, mines closed. As mines closed, people moved away and communities suffered. Some communities, like Willow Creek, completely vanished. Others, like East Coulee, went from a boomtown of 3800 to a ghost town of 180. When the Atlas #4 Mine shipped its last load of coal in 1979, the coal years of Drumheller were over.

 

The Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site preserves the last of the Drumheller mines. The Atlas recalls the time when Coal was King, and “mining the black” brought thousands of people to this lonely valley. The nearby East Coulee School Museum interprets the life of children and families in a bustling mine town.

 

This 360° High Dynamic Range panorama was stitched from 66 bracketed photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, processed in Color Efex, and finally touched up in Aperture.

 

Original size: 20000 × 10000 (200.0 MP; 1.03 GB).

 

Location: East Coulee, Alberta, Canada

Louis A Bencardino and Bencardino Excavating are assisting Nueva Esperanza Academy Charter School in North Philadelphia that is renovating and expanding its facilities to add a grade school, a new gymnasium and a concert hall. Along with the building expansion/addition, the site is being upgraded to include a new parking lot and loading dock. As part of the site improvements, Bencardino is contracted with installing an 80,000 cubic foot GeoStorage facility to address the City of Philadelphia’s storm management program. In addition to the underground basin the site required the removal and crushing of 92,000 square feet of concrete and the installation of 16,000 square yards of bituminous asphalt paving. The project required careful planning and coordination with Penn Construction and the school administration to maintain public safety as the school remained open during construction.

Bituminous coal from the Cretaceous of Utah, USA.

 

Coal is a carbon-rich, biogenic sedimentary rock. It forms by the burial and alteration of organic matter from fossil land plants that lived in ancient swamps. Coal starts out as peat. With increasing burial and diagenetic alteration, peat becomes lignite coal, sub-bituminous coal, and then bituminous coal. Bituminous coals tend to break and weather in a blocky fashion, are relatively sooty to the touch, and are harder and heavier than lignite coal (but still relatively soft and lightweight). Discernible plant fossil fragments may be present on bituminous coal bedding planes - sometimes in abundance. Bituminous coals commonly have irregular patches of shiny, glassy-textured organic matter (vitrain).

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Info. from public signage at Wittenberg University's Geology Department (Springfield, Ohio, USA):

 

Origin of Coal

 

Coal is formed from accumulated vegetation that grew in peat-forming swamps on broad lowlands that were near sea level. Cyclothems indicate that the land must have been at a "critical level" since the change from marine to non-marine sediments shows that the seas periodically encroached upon the land.

 

Formation of Coal

 

The change from plant debris to coal involves biochemical action producing partial decay, preserval of this material from further decay, and later dynamochemical processes. The biochemical changes involve attack by bacteria which liberate volatile constituents, and the preserval of the residual waxes and resins in the bottom of the swamps where the water is too toxic for the decay-promoting bacteria to live. The accumulated material forms "peat bogs". The dynamochemical process involves further chemical reactions produced by the increased pressure and temperature brought about by the weight of sediment that is deposited on top of it. These reactions are also ones in which the volatile constituents are driven off.

 

Rank of Coal

 

The different types of coal are commonly referred to in terms of rank. From lowest upward, they are peat (actually not a coal), lignite, bituminous, and anthracite. The rank of the coal is the result of the different amounts of pressure and time involved in producing the coal.

 

Bituminous

 

Bituminous coal is a dense, dark, brittle, banded coal that is well jointed and breaks into cubical or prismatic blocks and does not disintegrate upon exposure to air. Dull and bright bands and smooth and hackly layers are evident. It ignites easily, burns with a smoky yellow flame, has low moisture contnet, medium volatile content, and fixed carbon and heating content is high. It is the most used and most desired coal in the world for industrial uses.

 

In the United States, the Northern Appalachian fields lead in production, followed by the interior fields of the Midwest.

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This sample comes from Utah's Bronco Mine, which reportedly started in the 1880s. The coal ranks as high-volatile C bituminous coal, which means it gives off less heat than high-volatile A or B bituminous coals. The former gives off about 11,500 British thermal units (Btu) of heat per pound of coal. The latter two give off about 14,000 and 13,000 Btu per pound, respectively.

 

Stratigraphy: coal horizon in the Ferron Sandstone Member, Mancos Shale, Upper Cretaceous

 

Locality: Bronco Mine (= Emery Deep Mine), Emery County, central Utah, USA

 

View of asbestos-containing waterproofing material in "friable" condition.

 

When classifying ACMs based upon potential hazard risk, the terms “friable” or “non-friable” are often used to describe the relative condition, hazard assessment, and overall likelihood of the material to release asbestos particles. Certain types of building products are generally grouped into broad categories according to whether a material can be crumbled by “hand pressure”, by regulatory definition. However, the common practice of casually calling all those materials under the typical blanket designation of “non-friable” (or “safe”) without regard to evaluating actual condition or anticipated disturbance is flat-out misguided and potentially dangerous.

 

MANY everyday “non-friable” materials can and do become “friable” or degrade into conditions which may release asbestos fibers under a variety of reasons, including but not limited to: aging, weathering, wear, erosion (air/water), fretting, moisture, vibration, fire, heat, scraping, abrasion, friction, grinding, cutting, drilling, coring, hammering, chopping, chipping, crushing, pulverizing, UV/infrared exposure, chemical breakdown, intentional physical forces (removal activities, renovation, demolition), incidental damage, and SO ON…

 

ACM waterproofing, bituminous coating material is generally categorized as a “mastic” and typically deemed “non-friable”. However, over time, this particular material (such as shown here) has deteriorated into poor condition and can now be readily crumbled.

 

Another example along this line, floor tile, may have started out as an intact “non-friable” material, until aggressive and destructive removal methods are used to indiscriminately break the tile or is subjected to some other condition rendering the material non-intact (see several examples on Asbestorama).

 

Similarly, previously durable asbestos-cement materials are almost always classified as “non-friable”, but often degrade, either weakening or deteriorating to varying degrees which expose and more readily release asbestos fibers (see many examples on Asbestorama).

 

Gaskets, packings, felts, etc., perhaps began as compressed, dense materials, but over time and subjected to physical forces, lose cohesiveness and also deteriorate, consequently releasing asbestos particles when disturbed (again, see Asbestorama for examples).

 

Caulks, putties, glazings, sealing compounds, adhesives, mastics, etc., again were probably intact, pliable, sticky cohesive materials as originally installed, but eventually degrade, become brittle and readily crumble (again, see Asbestorama for many examples).

 

There is a prevalent, flawed habit by many of those who deal with asbestos removal issues to blindly label all materials in certain categories as “non-friable” regardless of actual condition assessment or considering how aggressively the materials will be removed or impacted by renovation/demolition processes. These materials often deteriorate into poor condition more commonly than generally acknowledged, subsequently affecting overall project notification requirements and how the materials are handled, posing increased risk of asbestos exposure hazards.

 

Are you or will you be dealing with a friable “non-friable” ACM?

 

Another exciting image: roof mastic. In this case, the mastic has become brittle and damaged and requires proper removal before planned renovation of the roof system and components.

The Belle Ayr mine is a coal mine located 18 miles southeast of Gillette, Wyoming in the United States 1 in the coal-rich Powder River Basin. The mine is an open pit, "truck and shovel", mine producing a low-sulfur, sub-bituminous coal from the Wyodak-Anderson seam that is used for domestic energy generation. Coal produced by the mine is shipped to its customers via railroad.

After the space between rough openings and door/window frames was sealed, we applied bituminous felt strips as flashings. At the sides of this window, 90mm strips are glued into the window's weather groove, and later another bead of glue is run down the front of the join. The glue is tough and waterproof. At the top of the window there are no weather grooves, and we are folding 120mm strips in an L-shape which is glued to the top of the frame so that there is a 2mm protuding drip edge. We tacked the outer edges of the strips down with staples to stop them from moving during plastering. We would recommend flashing the openings BEFORE applying the scratch coat - but with the spray rendering we had been asked NOT to put the windows and doors in first. Flashing after the scratch coat is more fiddly and introduces an area of potential weakness between plaster coats. Hand plastering isn't very messy, and we use masking tape to give us clean edges on the window frames. We also use sheet plastic to protect windows and doors when plastering above them, to protect them from any falling wet plaster.

Phil had an idea that he should watch UP #844 for the first time. Eddie slapped me upside of my telephone ear later. Phil decided he'd like to take a look even though "It was not the larger engine versus #3985." I suggested that he look #844 over while it was resting and stand next it as it sat atop the rails, atop the ballast and check to see how far below the driver axles he was looking. Yep, it has 80" drivers which means it rolls several feet on each turn of the drivers. (418.8786666667 pi*r^2/12) When you see drive wheels with crank pins near the axle, you know you have a passenger engine designed for speed and not torque for freight like the #3985. Eddie claimed the #844 could go 300 MPH but I doubt it. Eddie will believe almost everything; I've tried. I understand the SP Daylight has achieved 120 MPH; the exhaust sounds like a big whoosh at that speed. I know Neal Miller caught #844 traveling @ 104 MPH at one time. I caught it once when the side rods were a blur. Fast enough for an antique that is so incredibly valuable. I watched footage of #844 being rerailed with oak wedges where it escaped the track in the yard. Eddie says a replacement boiler had to be fabricated in China. Steam still navigates rails there. They are also building out their high speeds lines as our ostrich right decides the rich should get a free tax ride in this country. They get to travel in their tax free corporate jets. They don't need to travel the rails.

 

The Frontier Days Train is always a hit every year. All were tickle to the core, young and old, on the train and spectacletating. Phil looked suitably impressed even without standing next to the track. This shot was captured as the train traveled along Pierce, Colorado. We found this venue of the approach at a well drilling site. This spot seemed like it was the prize spot, as long as all the rest of the viewers and photographers assembled at every rail crossing. If you blow it up, you can see the assemblage collected at the next crossing. Phhhfffffttttt on their location. They don't show so much. It is always quite the event for railfans and I am astounded that there are actually parents who don't pack up the youngsters for an event that could so elegantly help fill in their kids' lapses of history. Phil was not convinced we should darken the private drilling venue but I figured that the drill roughnecks had probably gotten drunk last night, Friday and were not capable of getting out of bed yet. I barely was. It is a tad of a bother to separate from the crowds and the rails depart from the Highway #85 route up just past Nunn, (named for the really high, heavy walls around a convent) a few miles up the line to Cheyenne. I was perfectly happy with the surround as it speaks well to the Colorado prairie setting where grain elevators still line up along the main line to Cheyenne. Everywhere, corn is basking in the humid, toasty fields.

 

#844 has passed our drill rig location and the next Pierce elevator, left, and is on his way to Cheyenne at a good clip. Phil say the prairie lines collected elevators like we collected mosquitoes at the Platte. Today, it is part working train and probably running at 50 MPH minimum. That seems to be the freight standard out here in the prairie where trains are unlikely to depart the rails. The fireman has reduced responsibility in this oil burner and just throws a valve but very little coal. The exhaust would be about normal for a run across these lines. It was the best of my series of shots. Certainly no more smoke than a diesel with bad injectors. Even Eddie whined about the lack of smoke near his spot where it was slowing for the upcoming switches. Eddie is slowing apace if you ask my opinion. Duh, your car doesn't burn much when your foot is off the throttle. If you are concerned about the lack of smoke, find a coal engine run, possibly Golden or Durango, Colorado or pass the crew some bribery to sand the flues at a preplanned spot if your photograph requires a "bituminous cloud" that would bring the EPA to its knees. The crew injects sand into the flue pipes in front of the firebox to fake one. That serves to clean the soot off the pipes as the blower draws an enormous draft to the stack but also sand blasts the internal pipe surfaces a bit, bringing the boiler life to an earlier end. Cash donations could grease the crew. Organized railfan runs usually arrange smokey run-bys at previously designated scenic locations. God forbid having to shovel coal to feed a monster like this. The last big coal burners actually had augers that shoved the coal into the firebox. Arnold himself could not shovel enough to keep these monsters alive although god know he has done plenty of shoveling. The engine had "a tender behind" that carried water and distillate for the road. These monsters could evaporate so much water, the second tender is probably a water tank. Most road-side water tanks are long gone. Count the wheels under the tenders.

 

Perhaps this is your favorite view of two bygone eras. Note the biplane diving #844 from the right. That was no terrorist! They were out gagging lollies. I have to assume that they got their shot of the Cheyenne train; search Flackr as well as Eddie and Philbert. They flung a right turn to follow the train after they came even with the route of the UP. Now I am willing to defer to the fact that they have a taller viewpoint than my podzilla affords. Probably taller than yours, too. It might be a crop spraying outfit as there were others (including biplanes) doing just that along or Saturday trek. Philbert yelled at me when I turned away from this shot. Cripes, he should have been mashing his trigger instead of something else. All blubbering aside, this location was a premo choice and far superior to the mosquitoes (the Minnesota State Bird) by the ripening river.

  

A video showing maps and photos of where 2019 resurfacing work will happen in King, Snohomish and Whatcom counties. This video also includes information on the different stages of work, all that will delay drivers during weekday hours.

Example of vintage, thick cork pipe insulation with non-asbestos bituminous tar-like outer coating and asbestos-containing seam compound. The outer black coating is approx. 2-3mm thick, but did not test positive for asbestos. However, there is a black mastic compound applied along the sectional seams that did test positive for chrysotile asbestos.

 

This pipe fitting insulation, with manufacturer's name indentations indicated as "Armstrong", is shown damaged with only half of a preformed section still attached to the pipe elbow. The missing section demonstrates the material's layers and how the pipe insulation is designed to surround the pipe. Also shown in the upper portion of the image are original wire-bracings that keep the fitting insulation together on the pipe.

Description: Dr. Fraser Tells Conditions at Halifax. Printed in the Item, Lynn, MA., December 17, 1917. From a collection of clippings related to the Halifax Disaster, December 6, 1917 and Sir Charles Frederick Fraser, who is not the Dr. Fraser mentioned in the article.

 

Note:

Lynn, Mass. Item.

December 17 1917

 

DR. FRASER TELLS CONDITIONS AT HALIFAX

Money and Autos for Ambulances or Trucks Present Needs of the City.

 

Dr. William L. Fraser, who represented Lynn Red Cross branch in the relief work following the Halifax catastrophe, reported to the officials of his organization and of the committee of public safety last night at the home of Dr. George W. Haywood, 11 Harwood street, that the present need of the city is money for rehabilitation in addition to a few automobiles for ambulance or trucking purposes and Yuletide presents for the children at the Children’s hospital.

 

Zenas N. Lord of the General Electric Co. and Boy S. Edwards, 31 Franklin street, who had gone to Halifax to inquire as to relatives and who were present, agreed with Dr. Fraser that local pride would prevent the Halifax authorities from making an appeal for additional funds.

 

Dr. Haywood of the public safety committee said the Citadel city would undoubtedly require a vast deal of money to restore or replace buildings wrecked by the explosion. Mr. Lord, in illustrating conditions at Halifax, said that the extent of the disaster might be compared to the devastation of the whole section of Lynn west of Market street.

 

Dr. Fraser gave the number of dead at 1500 and the wounded at 2000, and said he believed that there will be many more names added to the list when the ruins are thoroughly searched, and this will require two months, at the least. Incidentally, it was remarkable that there is an abundance of sugar in Canada and this becomes observable once one passes Vanceboro, Me.

 

Dr. Fraser reached Lynn Saturday, the delegate from the public safety committee, H.H. Richardson having accompanied him from Halifax as far as Belfast, Me., where he will remain for a day or two. Mr. Lord had gone to Halifax to ascertain the safety of a sister-in-law, Mrs. James Topp. She had been bruised by glass. Mr. Edwards found his aunt, Mrs. Robert Guilfoyle, uninjured, but two of his cousins had been killed.

 

Hundreds Blinded.

The three Lynn men said that there were hundreds who would lose their eyesight as a result of flying glass, and that in the case of many who had lost one eye they would suffer the loss of the other by reason of sympathetic inflammation. There are hundreds of the latter who are reluctant to have both eyes removed when only one is affected. Mr. Edwards said that he went about the city with a William Burton, assisting the latter in searching for white and sister-in-law. A few charred bones told the story, they having been found where the backdoor of the home should have been in Velth street.

 

Dr. Fraser was presented by C. Fred Smith, and after sketching his trip to the stricken city, said there had been reports of looting and that those who engaged in it had been shot, but he did not know as to their accuracy. Other wild rumors were that strange ships had been seen in Halifax harbor some days prior to the explosion. One vessel in the harbor had its top works, its masts and sails stripped cleanly. The disaster, he said, had not interfered in any way with shipping. The wharves are still intact. While the body of the chief of the fire department was found at a point where he was engaged in quenching a fire on the docks at the time of the explosion, the fire machine is missing. missing. [sic]

 

One man had been taken out of the ruins of a demolished building after having been there four days, and he was still alive.

 

Dr. Fraser declared that Halifax is going to suffer much from septic pneumonia, as a result of the explosion. The flying glass had imbedded itself in the wounded, and in many cases this glass would remain there unless discovered by X-ray machines, of which the hospitals

 

Stand in Great Need.

The presence of this glass among the wounded had been overlooked in the first aid treatment.

 

Respecting business now transacted in the city it was said that most of the stores are open. Hard cold is selling at $15 a ton and bituminous coal at $10 a ton. IT was brought out that the reason Halifax handled the situation as well as it did was due to the presence of the military guard, which stiffened the morale of the people considerably. Dr. Fraser remarked the utter lack of hysteria, and Mr. Edwards declared that it would be some time before the bereaved ones realized the extent of their losses.

 

The question as to what preparation Lynn had made to take care of a disaster arose, and Dr. Haywood spoke of the city having been accurately mapped and a copy of the map placed at the State House, Boston, as a model for all cities in the State to adopt under the direction of the public safety committee. It was the opinion of all that there would be ample medical, nurse and ambulance service and that the nearness of Lynn to Boston would aid materially in promoting relief should any such calamity as that at Halifax visit the Shoe City.

 

At the station when the doctor arrived in Halifax one of the passengers discovered a little dog that had been buried in the snow, and it was quickly rescued. A 14-year-old boy, whose father was a sergeant, when the explosion came threw himself flat on the ground and thus avoided injury. A soldier standing near him was killed. At the children’s hospital was a little girl who had been injured. She said: “The funny part of it was that I did now know I was blowed up.”

 

Dr. Fraser spoke of the complete arrangements the authorities had made for relief and for the identification of bodies, and of how one was so disfigured that it seemed as if it could never be recognized by the loved ones who sought it. There was nothing found upon the remains that would serve as a means of identification. It was finally identified through the media of two scars resultant from operations for hernia and appendicitis.

 

In regard to sad scenes at the maternity hospital it was related by Mr. Edwards that he knew of a mother whose side had been carried away by the explosion and the child born dead.

 

Death Was Instant.

Ninety per cent of those killed died instantly and the majority them were wounded about the head. Dr. Fraser was impressed by the fact that the faces of all the corpses shoed they had anticipated something, but there was only one that delineated horror and that was a little body whose body was found with stiffened fingers shielding the face. The remains of many were collected in a basin and a blanket would cover the bodies of others with plenty of room to spare. There was no hitch in the methods adopted by in identification or the disposal of the dead.

 

Dr. Fraser had been a pile of coffins eight feet high in one street and covering a street block. The physician said that the disaster was not in any way comparable to the Chelsea holocaust. To him the disaster suggested that a steam roller of gigantic dimensions had been rolled over the devastated area. The only way in numerous instances one could locate where a house had been was to see the coal burning in the cellar.

 

In praising the work of the Halifax authorities and those who came in from the nearby cities to assist he illustrated it by saying that a bandmaster in France had wired to inquire as to the safety of his family. The men in charge went to work and they told their subordinates to stay on the job of investigating until they had finished. The result was that the missing relatives of the bandmaster were located.

 

They Were Safe.

The friendliness of the Americans and the Canadians had fine exemplification in this catastrophe. One man said to another, “We have been ragging the Americans for a long time. We have been saying that Uncle Same has been blowing. You knew what we have been saying, John, all these years; but now, my God, the Americans jump right in.”

 

Dr. Fraser felt that the Red Cross by sending its unit from Boston with supplies had done much to cement the friendship of America and the Dominion. “Everybody in Halifax waited to see what the Americans would do and when they found out we were there ready and willing to aid them in any way they were very grateful,” continued the doctor.

 

A.C. Ratshesky, who headed the first Massachusetts relief expedition to Halifax, handled the situation in an ideal way. Dr. Fraser says he was a human dynamo. The nursing system was all that could be desired. The work of the Canadian war nurses was commended and all of the British Tommies evinced a deal of pleasure and respect in saluting them. They rank as lieutenants, and Mr. Edwards said they draw the salary of a lieutenant in the service of King George.

 

Those present were Henry F. Tapley, head of the Lynn branch of the Red Cross, C. Fred Smith, Dr. George W. Haywood, Dr. William L. Fraser, Daniel B. Gauchet, Dr. Samuel G. Underhill, Charles A. Collins, Dr. J. Armand Bedard, Dr. William B. Little, Dr. Chauncey C. Sheldon, Roy S. Edwards, Ralph W. Reeve, Adolph H. Ackerman, Rev. W. Appleton Lawrence, Zenas N. Lord, and H.W. Berry.

 

Date: December 17, 1917

 

Format: newspaper clipping

 

Digital Identifier: ag159_01_0001

 

Rights: Samuel P. Hayes Research Library, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA

 

Original Caption: Strip-mining spoil piles in background. Plans for massive strip-mining are underway, 06/1973.

  

U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: 412-DA-6675

  

Photographer: Norton, Boyd

 

Subjects:

Environmental protection

Natural resources

Pollution

Billings (Montana, United States) inhabited place

 

Persistent URL: research.archives.gov/description/549161

 

Repository: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001.

 

For information about ordering reproductions of photographs held by the Still Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html

 

Reproductions may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html

 

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted

Use Restrictions: Unrestricted

Portion of a building's foundation wall formerly below grade and now exposed, showing black waterproofing coating material. Lab testing indicates the material contains 10-15% asbestos content.

Another close-up view of black-colored asbestos waterproofing coating, showing small cracks and reflective luster (with blue sky background).

Example of bituminous asbestos coating on concrete building foundation.

Vintage (1964) tri-fold marketing literature touting Johns-Manville asbestos fibers used in asphalt road material.

 

Image depicts graphics and product info on interior panels. Note detail indicating "Clean Job".

 

Some may argue that there might be less concern of exposure with this type of application due to fibers apparently bound in a bituminous matrix. However, consider potential asbestos exposures to workers and the public during installation, material degradation after years of weathering and constant road-wear, or from dry crushing activities of asbestos-asphalt during later removal and recycling of road materials.

 

The asbestos industry found more ways to use asbestos than we might realize.

"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.

 

A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.

 

This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.

 

The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.

 

Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.

 

The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.

 

Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.

 

There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.

 

It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.

 

In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.

 

Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.

 

Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.

 

However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.

 

There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.

 

CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.

 

Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.

 

UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.

 

For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu

  

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Vintage (1964) tri-fold marketing folder touting Johns-Manville asbestos fibers for use in asphalt road material; image depicts outside cover graphics and product info. A sleeve is also present on one panel, which contains several pages (shown in subsequent images) of additional information about the application of asbestos fiber in asphalt road material.

 

Note details regarding "Handling" asbestos fiber, indicating "...can be handily cut and added manually..." and "Wet or damp fiber should not be used."

 

The asbestos industry found more ways to use asbestos than we might realize.

Anthracite coal from the Pennsylvanian of Pennsylvania, USA. (12.4 centimeters across at its widest)

 

Metamorphic rocks result from intense alteration of any previously existing rocks by heat and/or pressure and/or chemical change. This can happen as a result of regional metamorphism (large-scale tectonic events, such as continental collision or subduction), burial metamorphism (super-deep burial), contact metamorphism (by the heat & chemicals from nearby magma or lava), hydrothermal metamorphism (by superheated groundwater), shear metamorphism (in or near a fault zone), or shock metamorphism (by an impact event). Other categories include thermal metamorphism, kinetic metamorphism, and nuclear metamorphism. Many metamorphic rocks have a foliated texture, but some are crystalline or glassy.

 

Anthracite coal is the highest-rank coal. It forms by very low-grade metamorphism (anchimetamorphism) of bituminous coal. Anthracite is always black-colored, with a glassy texture, and is harder & heavier than the other coals (although it is still relatively soft & lightweight). Unlike lignite and bituminous coal, anthracite is not sooty to the touch. Anthracite burns hotter than other coal types, due to its high carbon content (~90% C). It also is the cleanest-burning of all the coals.

 

Anthracite is a scarce variety of coal. The highest concentration of anthracite on Earth is in the Pennsylvanian-aged coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, USA. There is still some uncertainty in the details about the origin of Pennsylvania anthracite coal. In Colorado, an anthracite coal deposit occurs next to an igneous intrusion - the anthracite formed by heating from contact or hydrothermal metamorphism. It's been suggested that Pennsylvania anthracite was hydrothermally metamorphosed. The anthracite in Pennsylvania was originally deposited in coal swamps that were relatively high on ancient alluvial plains - those environments are usually not preserved in mountain belts (they get uplifted and eroded). In Pennsylvania, the high alluvial plain facies were downdropped and got preserved, resulting in anthracites representing different facies from those seen in bituminous coal fields.

 

Age: Mammoth Coal, lower Llewellyn Formation, middle Desmoinesian Series, upper Middle Pennsylvanian

 

Locality: Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine, southern side of the town of Ashland, northwestern Schuylkill County, eastern Pennsylvania, USA

--------------------

Specimen collected & generously donated by Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine staff.

 

"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.

 

A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.

 

This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.

 

The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.

 

Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.

 

The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.

 

Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.

 

There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.

 

It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.

 

In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.

 

Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.

 

Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.

 

However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.

 

There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.

 

CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.

 

Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.

 

UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.

 

For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu

  

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

National coal strike of 1912: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_coal_strike_of_1912

Asbestos inspectors and surveyors, add this to your ever-growing list of materials and building components to assess during surveys.

 

This coating appears similar to other spray-applied asbestos coatings found on some metal sink basins and certain vintage basketball backboards.

Close-up angled view of a black-colored, asbestos-containing waterproofing coating material on an exposed building's concrete foundation wall, depicting relative thickness of approx. 7-millimeters. Detail also shows fibrous-mesh material inlaid within the coating compound.

"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.

 

A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.

 

This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.

 

The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.

 

Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.

 

The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.

 

Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.

 

There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.

 

It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.

 

In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.

 

Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.

 

Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.

 

However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.

 

There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.

 

CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.

 

Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.

 

UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.

 

For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu

  

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.

 

A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.

 

This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.

 

The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.

 

Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.

 

The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.

 

Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.

 

There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.

 

It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.

 

In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.

 

Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.

 

Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.

 

However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.

 

There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.

 

CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.

 

Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.

 

UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.

 

For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu

  

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

LLWYNYPIA COLLIERY, LLWYNYPIA, RHONDDA.

Any recollection of this colliery and its workforce is inseparable from the name of Archibald Hood, a Scotsman who bestrode mid-Rhondda and elsewhere as a colossus of the mining world, and beyond that distinction too. A brief summary of this man’s career –where to do justice, a volume is needed – is that in 1860, when he arrived in Wales from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, he was merely thirty-seven, but in a brief twenty-five of those years in Scotland, he achieved more than most men of that time would achieve in a lifetime, becoming a qualified mining engineer and coal-owner, genuinely highly-respected in both spheres by his mining peers and workforce. His interest and concern in the latter extended beyond their daily duties, with the provision of good accommodation complete with gardens for food production, and also encouraging their purchase of domestic needs from co-operative initiatives. But, as illustrious as he was in Scotland, he would, over the next forty-two years in Wales, carve a second career that would overtake his first.

Hood’s first Welsh mining involvement was at Tylcha Fach Level in Coed Ely, which exploited the thin bituminous Ty Du seam of less than a yard thickness. The colliery was owned by the Ely Valley Coal Company, and its office and winding-engine house are still in existence, modified into three residences, sitting above Tylcha Fach Estate, an elevated, relatively-new housing development which sits on the valley-side opposite the former Coedely Colliery. He had arrived there in 1860, commissioned by Messrs. Campbell and Mitchell-Innes to determine if a proposed investment in small mines in the area would be profitable, but in an interim period and inexplicably not seeking Hood’s advice, Campbell and Mitchell-Innes were persuaded, unwisely, to buy the level. Although Hood later joined them there, his thoughts were focussed on deep mining at Llwynypia, and when the Ely Valley Coal Company was liquidated, he, Campbell and Mitchell-Inness formed the new Glamorgan Coal Company and began shaft sinkings at Llwynypia Colliery. Eventually, under Hood’s leadership two more deep mines were established at Penrhiwfer and Gilfach Goch.

Evidence of the beginning of Llwynypia Colliery, dated February 27th,1861, is shown on page four (pages 1-3 missing) of Glamorgan Coal Company’s Cash Book, which over the following twenty-eight days showed directors’ cash injections of £3,600, including £300 by Archibald Hood. It provides early-years evidence that though Hood was undoubtedly the driving force at Llwynypia, his periodical purchase of company shares was always much less than his fellow directors! A search for this colliery through officially-recognised sources will be unsuccessful if ‘Glamorgan’ or ‘Scotch’ is used as a search-word, for the correct name is ‘Llwynypia’, which broadly translates as ‘Magpies Grove’. However, for good reason, ‘Glamorgan’ and ‘Scotch’ soon became every-day alternatives, and they are unquestioned and accepted to this day – but why did they originate? Imagine, you are a Scot, beginning work as a miner in a very sparsely populated area, where the native language is predominantly Welsh, a tongue completely foreign to you. Inevitably, at some time, you will be asked your place of residence or employment: do you invite ridicule, by attempting to pronounce ‘Llwynypia’, or do you use your wits, replying with the easily-pronounced ‘Scotch’, a reference to the colliery’s predominantly Scottish workforce imported by Archibald Hood – or the equally easy ‘Glamorgan’, the name of the company owning the colliery?

To accommodate his workforce, Hood found it necessary to build, and eventually, 271 homes were constructed in fifteen terraces adjacent to, and overlooking the colliery, of which 256 are still in occupied existence, together with several impressive managers’ residences built in the proximity of the colliery. More dwellings were built near his Penrhiwfer and Gilfach Goch mines, and to this day, in all three villages, there remain references to the Glamorgan Coal Company, Hood’s nationality, and Scottish landmarks. Sherwood (several), Gilmour, Anderson, Thistle, St. Andrew, Ayton, Campbell, Argyll, Grange, Holyrood, Rosedale, Bruce (Penrhiwfer), Scotch and Dundonnell (both at Gilfach Goch), all are overtly Scottish-influenced place-names, but there were acknowledgements to Wales, with Cambrian, Glamorgan, Llewelyn, Glandwr, Llwynypia, Glyncornel, Iscoed, etc. Missing from all these is a landmark dubbed ‘Hood’ by Hood himself, and perhaps this remarkable, extraordinary man knew there was no need for self-acclaim, for in his modest way he probably realized that his achievements in South Wales would render that self-perpetuation superfluous.

There were six vertical shafts and two levels at Llwynypia. On the Llwynypia side of the River Rhondda Fawr were shafts 1, 2, 3 and 4. Nos 1, and 2 shafts were sunk to exploit the shallow Nos. 2 and 3 Rhondda seams but were eventually deepened to exploit the steam coals in the deeper seams; No. 3 shaft worked the shallow seams too, but, whilst reportedly sunk to also exploit the lower seams, it closed in 1908. The coal in the Nos. 2 and 3 Rhondda seams was bituminous, used as a domestic fuel and also as the basic element in coke production, fuelling the 281 ovens at Llwynypia and Gilfach Goch collieries, where an impressive 1,400 tons was produced weekly. Additionally important, at the floor of these seams was fireclay, a mineral consisting of the roots of dead plants, extracted along with the coal, the decayed vegetation above the plant-roots, both having undergone change, metamorphosis, through heat and deep burial over millions of years. This clay was a valuable by-product, an essential constituent of the 10,000 or so bricks made daily by women in the colliery’s above-ground brick-making plant.

The three shafts (1, 2 and 3) were sunk in a line, parallel to and near the Taff Vale Railway, their extremes contained within an incredible 35.33 yards. No. 4 shaft did not conduct minerals, it was sunk purely to accommodate water pumped from the whole of the colliery’s workings, and its former location is today bordered by a fast-food outlet adjacent to Llwynypia Road. When the colliery ceased production in 1945, the yard remained in use as a rescue-station and central workshop, and the shaft remained open at the No. 3 Rhondda seam, 108 yards level, for water-pumping only until 1966, when total colliery closure took place. The writer recalls, during the mid-1960s, many times travelling to his ventilation duties there, in a very small, single-deck cage, the only one that could be accommodated in this extremely narrow shaft. No. 5 shaft, on the Trealaw side of the river, did not conduct minerals, it was sunk purely to conduct the whole of the colliery’s stale air to the surface, but at times through the colliery’s life this function was fulfilled by other shafts, including No. 6, when No. 5 closed. No. 6 shaft, close to the Collier’s Arms at Ynyscynon Road, was sunk to exploit the deep, steam coals.

In descending order, the seams worked at Llwynypia Colliery were: No. 1 Rhondda (only at an inconsequential, almost mountaintop level, see below); No. 2 Rhondda; No. 3 Rhondda; Pentre; Two Feet Nine Inches; Lower Six Feet; Upper Nine Feet (Red Vein): Lower Nine Feet and Bute; Bute; Five Feet; Lower Five Feet. The Lower Five Feet was the deepest-worked seam and was found at 517 yards in the 525 yards deep No. 1 shaft. The two levels were established on the Trealaw side of the river, with the highly-productive Sherwood Level, whose entrance was adjacent to No. 5 shaft, shallowly traversing under Ynyscynon Nursery as it commenced its 950 yard journey into Rhondda Fach, extracting the No. 2 Rhondda seam. It was opened in 1905, in anticipation of the closure of No. 3 shaft, thereby maintaining the essential supply of bituminous coal and fireclay for the production of coke and bricks, but it closed in 1923 when those reserves were exhausted. That year also saw the closure of Llwynypia Colliery Mountain Level, situated high on the Trealaw mountainside; it was a largely-exploratory, short-lived venture into the No. 1 Rhondda seam for its much-sought bituminous coal and fireclay, but one which was of limited presence due to glacial action and erosion by the elements. Reliable and complete manpower and production figures for Llwynypia are not available, but the colliery was certainly prolific in both, with 4,200 employees in 1902, and 700,000 tons output in 1923 being quoted, although the latter figure, is much lower than the widely-held figure of one million tons per annum.

Archibald Hood was that rarity, a truly-respected coal-owner. He was canny and conservative but also a humanitarian, and at Llwynypia, as in Scotland, he sought to beneficially influence the lives of his workmen and their families. Whereas D. A Thomas, Chairman of Cambrian Collieries Ltd, injected nothing into the Clydach Valley communities, Hood’s hand was everywhere in Llwynypia, manifested by the provision of schools, St. Andrews Church, a Miners Institute, complete with library and billiards tables — a swimming pool, tennis courts, cricket, football and rugby fields, and even the winter-time provision of a large, outdoor ice-skating area! He encouraged his workforce to grow food by providing large garden areas at the fronts of their dwellings, simultaneously seeking to divert the male occupants from alcohol, an imperative, given the volatile temperaments of the Welsh, Scots, and the Irish that later inhabited the community! He was known for his attention to detail, often involved in matters which his minions might have been expected to supervise – the writer’s grandmother lost an arm at Llwynypia when sixteen in 1893, amputated when caught in brick-making machinery, and Hood, then seventy, personally attended the matter, obtaining a job for the one-armed girl at the Tonypandy ironmongery of John Cox – Hood, probably not needing to remind Cox of Glamorgan Coal Company’s patronage!

When he died, aged 79, in 1902, a fund was established to erect a statue, the first in Rhondda, and this likeness, with an arm horizontal, pointing to his colliery, stands to this day, overlooking Llwynypia Road. Such was the respect of his workmen that the fund was heavily over-subscribed, with the surplus being used to provide a gas-lit statue and animal drinking-trough, now modified and situated near Tonypandy Library, removed from its original site at Tonypandy Square. Six years after his death, Llwynypia Colliery was taken under the control of D. A. Thomas’s Cambrian Collieries Ltd, of whom Leonard Llewelyn was General Manager. Today, it is known that Llewelyn was a liar, impostor and opportunist, but when he and Llwynypia Colliery became newspaper headlines in the Tonypandy Coal Strike and the associated rioting of 1910-11, he excelled in concealing and distorting the truth, by manipulating Establishment-based newspapers, the only information source of those times. To expose Llewelyn, one needed mining experience and a source of publication, both possessed by, and available to the writer, but not so in the latter-essential to miners in the 1910-11 period. So, critically, the untruths in those newspapers passed unchallenged, and became immediate history, creating false perceptions of events that deceived many historians and others to the present day. Llewelyn’s lies would not have sat well with Hood, and one wonders, when at the peak of his powers, would he have vetoed the Cambrian purchase of Llwynypia? Had it been possible to configure that time-span, he might have prevented the immense suffering that occurred in mid-Rhondda in 1910-11.