Better watch where you put your ash!
RogerB
Posts: 8,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
Just for fun!
"Department of Public Highways
Office, S.W. Corner Chestnut and Fifth Streets
Philadelphia.
November 13, 1856
Col. J, Ross Snowden
Dear Sir,
Complaint has been made at this office, that some person in your employ is in the practice of depositing the coal ashes in the rear of the U. States Mint, or on Juniper Street obstructing the street, and likewise annoying them by suffering it to remain for two or three days.
You will exceedingly oblige this Department by abating the cause of complaint.
Yours respectfully,
John McCarthy,
Chief Commissioner,
per Eadward Ellis"
8
Comments
Great find. I didn't realize there were that many dead bodies at the Mint being cremated.
Do we know how much coal was used daily at the mint?
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Hard to think about the Coal fired heating systems in the mint. Perhaps the Shoe shine man was behind it all.
Best place to buy !
Bronze Associate member
I heat with anthracite and can relate to this letter.
By this time of year I'm tired of carrying ashes and am tempted to just pile them where convenient, lol.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
Lowest minion in employ got ash and trash duty.
Likely he was promoted and the problem went away.
bob
Any bets on whether the reply was, "Kiss my ash"?
Yeah, probably not....
Craaaaaabby!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
I found this snippet of an article by J. C. Booth that was published in the June1885 Journal of the American Chemical Society regarding the Mint's smelting furnaces. Someone with proper credentials could download and see if there's anything of particular interest in there, perhaps from a different perspective, that we don't currently know from other works, like Roger's FMtM book.
Edit: Here's the full article (but without cited illustrations).
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
love the proper english spoken and written during that time...thanks rln
Copies of annual coal contracts exist. Next time I see one I'll post the total. It was considerable given the use for all melting and annealing work.
messydesk - Thanks for locating the Booth article. Gives a good perspective on the size and capacity of one furnace.
The worker that did it was a real ashhole.
Why wasn't the EPA all over this???
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
What a big ash!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
I seem to recall reading that the Philadelphia mint fire of 1816? was caused by someone dumping hot ashes in a trash barrell behind the mint. Things were simple back then. Wish it was today.
I think the Mint meant for the accused to "get their ash out of there".
They just said it nicely.
Pete
I can remember (vaguely) when my family heated with coal.... at that time we lived in an apartment and I would have to go down to the coal cellar (chutes and bins for separate apartments) and bring up some coal....dirty job...but someone (me) had to do it...
Cheers, RickO
My old house still had a coal door and chute down to the basement. Even the ramps were still there even though the coal furnace was replaced in the 1950s.
RE: Coal Price.
According to June 1855 bids and proposals, Lehigh Valley coal was priced at $5.00 to $5.25 per ton, delivered. I don't know how much was used in a year, but there were 11 bidders in 1855, so it was probably a large contract.
I agree:
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