Transcription
[Virginia File] [?] [?]
Historic Site: Pr. Wm. Forest Park
Prince William Public Library
Manassas, Va.
Reference
POTOMAC NEWS, Woodbridge, Va., Wednesday, Jan. 5, 1983. Page B7
Have you heard of the Cabin Branch Mine?
As we begin the new year of 1983, it
seems appropriate that as we look to
our future plans for life in Dumfries,
we also take a look at what is past.
When I first began writing this column,
one of Dumfries' special people,
former Mayor Alton Mountjoy of
Main Street, shared with me an address
entitled "The Cabin Branch
Mine" that he presented to a meeting
of Historic Dumfries, Virginia, Inc.
With his permission and since this
has been a quiet week allowing plenty
of space, I would like to share his
research with the readers of this column.
Proceeds from this column will
be donated to Historic Dumfries, Virginia,
Inc. in Mountjoy's name.
CABIN BRANCH MINE
"As one walks through Prince William
Forest Park today, one can
hardly realize that some seventy-five
years ago this forest was a mining
community employing several hundred
workers, bringing substantial
financial benefits to Dumfries and
the surrounding areas. Men from as
far south as Stafford County walked
to this mine each day, worked ten
hours, and then walked home.
"It was about 1890 that pyrite was
found in Quantico Creek. A shaft was
sunk to verify the presence of the ore,
and the test proved positive. From
1908 to 1920 more than 200,000 tons to
pyrite was sold for more than
$1,168, 513.
"Schist, containing quartz and
hornblende, make up the rock of the
mine area. The pyrites in lens-
shaped deposits are among the
schist. The Cabin Branch lens is 1,000
feet long and up to 14 feet wide, sitting
on an angle of sixty degrees. Sulphur
content if the mine ore is forty
to fifty percent, considered quite
high. Because of its similarity in appearance to gold, pyrite is sometimes
called "fool's gold."
"Pyrites are mined for the manufacture
of sulphuric acid. The 1916
pre-war price was $4.64 per ton; the
1917 price rose to $15.75 per ton. Virginia
has out produced all other states
as of 1917, with 37 percent total U.S.
production.
"Cabin Branch Mine was a total
operation almost self-sufficient. It
was a major source of income for
Dumfries during its production
years.
"The mine had three shafts, Numbers
1, 2 and 3. Numbers 1 and 3 were
vertical, with Number 2 on an incline
of 25 to 55 degrees. Number 3 shaft
was the deepest - 2,400 feet according
to two sources. A document written
in 1917 reported the depth to be
1,800 feet , which leaves the possibility
that there was an expansion to 2,400
feet before 1920.
"A narrow-gauge railroad connected
the mine to the wharves on the
Potomac River at Barrows Siding
about seven miles distant. Contrary
to some reports, this narrow-gauge
railroad was not part of or connected
to the R.F. & P. Railroad. At the
mine site this railroad connected the
shaft, the crusher mill, and other
buildings. Three steam engines ran
on the tracks: the Dewey, the Virginia
Creeper, the Dinkey - named because
of its size. Also at the mine was
a skiff, named because of its shape,
to haul ore up an incline to the head
from where the ore was gathered before
being processed.
"There were about seventy buildings
at the mine, including a blacksmith
shop, a carpenter shop,
worker quarters, a sawmill, a commissary,
a superintendant's house,
and the Detrick House. Today little
remains to show evidence of a one
thriving economy.
"The mining procedure was explained
in great detail as Cecil Garrison
reminisces.
"The first step was to construct the
necessary buildings and to begin to
sink the shaft. Unlike some of the other
mines in Virginia, Cabin Branch
shafts had to be totally supported by
timber due to the composition of the
country rock. About every 110 feet or
so a horizontal "level" would be cut
into the pocket of ore. These levels
had to be supported by timbers.
"Transporting the ore in each level
was accomplished by hand pushed
wagons on tracks. These wagons
were pushed to the shaft where they
would be dumped into a bucket suspended
by a cable from an eighty foot
high "pithead" built directly over the
shaft opening. This bucket was not
only used to haul ore, but also to
transport the workers to and from
the different loads: men, empty,
or ore. When the bucket reached a
certain section of the pithead it would
automatically dump the ore into a
waiting railroad car.
"At any one time there were 200 to
300 men working at the mine, above
and below ground. The underground
mining process went on 24 hours a
day, with three shifts per day. Huge
circulating fans and water pumps
ran continuously to keep the underground
network clear of poisonous
gases and seeping ground water.
"On each level worked a "crew"
which was supervised by a blaster.
This blaster would get paid for the
number of feet he could progress in
one day. The blaster with a good
crew could make quite a good salary.
Some of the men in each crew were:
the "driller," who drilled the holes
for the dynamite; the "muckers,"
who loaded the ore into the wagons;
the "timberman," who made sure
the roof was properly supported; and
the "powderman," who carried the
dynamite from the powder house to
the level where it was needed.
"After the ore was brought up to
the surface, it was transported by the
narrow-gauge railroad to the ore bins. From the ore bins, the pyrite
was hauled up the incline or runway
to the head frame where the milling
procedure began.
"The milling procedure is generallyexplained as follows. The produce
was divided into three classes: lump,
spall, and fines. Lump was first
grade that required no sorting. Spall
was first grade ore broken to pass a
two and a half ring and freed from fines by screening. Fine ore was under
three-eights inch in size in the
milling practice at the Cabin Branch
Mine. The ore from the hoist was
dumped on a two and a half inch grizzly.
Oversize ore went to a lump storage
bin. Hand sorting separated the
slate from first-classlump which
went to a spalling floor. The finer impure
ore went to a roll-jar crusher.
The larger lumps wee broken by
hand and shipped without further
treatment. The undersize from the
grizzly was treated in a three compartment Hartz jib or sieve. Clean
pebble ore was shipped as such. Middlings from the jib were treated by
roughing rolls of two grades and
were treated in two-compartment
jibs.
"The hand sorting process mentioned
was performed by young boys
for fifty cents a day. This is where
Cecil Garrison started his day at the
mine.
"The jibs or sieve were devices
which separated the country rock
from the ore by vibrations and a
washing procedure. Jigs were located
in the mill, and all of the treatment
was done in the mill. All
primary crushing was done in the
crusher house.
"From the mill the ore was loaded
on the narrow-gauge or railroads and
delivered to the docks at Barrows
Siding near Possum Point.
"I think we all know that the Cabin
Branch Mine was the major supporting
industry of Dumfries for a thirty
year period from 1890 to 1920.
"Through railroad deeds and other
records, one may gather that the
Cabin Branch had ownership from
1899 to 1916, and the American Agriculture
Company from 1917 to 1920.
The original owners were the Detricks
and the Bradleys and their
families.
"Around 1919 or 1920 it was found that a higher content of pyrite could
be mined more cheaply in Spain than
in the United States. During this period
of economic uncertainty, the miners
went on strike for a pay increase
from $4.25 per day to $4.50 per day.
The superintendant responded by
closing the mine down, saying that he
would let the Cabin Branch Mine fill
with water and the frogs jump in before
he would reopen it.
"Occupation of the area by the Civilian
Conservation Corps in the early
1930's resulted in complete
dismantling of the mine. Building
materials were used for the cabin
camps, and the slate dumps were
used for roadbed materials.
"Today Cabin Branch Mine is only
a memory to be recorded on the
pages of history."Transcriber
Adam KitchenLanguage
English
