204 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

by Captain Wilkes and other officers of the United States Navy
in compliance with a Senate resolution adopted on April 13,
1858. As a result of this investigation, and in a report oub-
lished as an executive document early in 1859, Captain Wilkes
and his associates reported favorably on the proposition that the
Deep River region was a suitable one for the establishment of

foundries and other plants for the production of naval ordnance
and supplies.”

Captain Wilkes made the following statement in regard to
the coal:

“It is a shining and clean coal, resembling the best specimens
of Cumberland (Md.). It ignites easily, and burns with a
bright, clear combustion, and leaves a very little purplish-grey
ash. It is a desirable coal for blacksmiths’ use, for the parlor
and superior to most coals for the production of gas, for whieh
it is likely to be in great demand. Its freedom from sulphur is
another of its recommendations.”

These favorable preliminary reports by Captain Wilkes of
the Navy Department, and Dr. Emmons, the State geologist
of North Carolina, awakened considerable interest in the devel-
opment of this coal. But it was found in subsequent operations
that the coal, as mined, generally contained a considerable
quantity of slate and other black earthy material, that its ash
formed a slag on the grate bars, and that it contained no little
sulphur. This composition made it a rather difficult coal to use
in ordinary furnaces. But during the war, it was extensively
used to make coke for the iron works established in the Deep
River region. It was also used as a steam coal; but its use on
board blockade runners and other ships was found highly objec-
tionable, both on account of the poor quality of the coal and the
smoke which resulted from its use.

At intervals between 1870 and 1900 the shaft at the Egypt
coal mine (about 465 feet deep) was again opened and the
mine worked on a small seale, the coal being shipped to Raleigh
Fayetteville, and other local markets; but it never became :
good merchantable coal, and its use remained limited and local

Besides, the coal itself gave off in the mine considerable
quantities of explosive gas, and there were several bad explo-
sions, one of which, in December, 1895, killed thirty-nine men
and ‘another, in May, 1900, killed twenty-three men. The
operating company was much discouraged by these disasters
and the mine was closed.

Early Years 205

There is probably a considerable quantity of coal still to be
obtained in the vicinity of the old Egypt mine, and if the mine

were worked with modern safety precautions, to prevent dis-
astrous explosions, and the coal were washed so as to remove the

dirt, it would be found to be a fairly satisfactory fuel. If
briquetted (as is frequently done in European countries), it
would be both suitable and available for domestic use in the

adjacent markets.
The formation in which this coal occurs extends from the

South Carolina line northward to near Oxford in Granville

County, its greatest width being from twelve to fifteen miles.
At different points in this formation there are beds of sand-

stone available for building purposes; but the workable coal
seems to be limited to a few thousand acres in that part of Chat-

ham County near the old hamlet of Egypt, formerly known as
the “Gulf,” but which during the past few years has been called

“Cuymnock.”’

FAYETTEVILLE ON THE OAPE FEAR.

Known as Oross Creek and Campbellton up to 1784, the
name of this interesting old town was then changed to Fayette-
ville, in tribute to the services of the Marquis de Lafayette, who
visited Fayetteville in 1824.

The people of Fayetteville, between whom and the people of
Wilmington there have been for a hundred years the most cor-
dial social and business relations, were ever as thrifty and enter-
prising as hospitable and cultured. They were among the first in
the State to establish cotton factories; and, being at the head of
water transportation and having an extensive system of plank
roads into the interior, Fayetteville was the great mart of trade
in North Carolina, especially for the extensive country lying
west to the Blue Ridge, and even for the transmontane country
comprising parts of East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

This trade was carried on by canvas-topped wagons as vehicles
of transportation, drawn by two, four, and even six horses, for
mules in those days were seldom employed. Said Mr. J. H.