The Einhorn (Unicorn) Press

The Jamestown Exposition is built along the shores of Hampton Roads and the breeze from the salt water does much to temper the heat of the southern sun.   The exposition grounds are about 10 miles from the city of Norfolk, Va., and are reached by a number of trolley lines running for much of the distance along the beach.  Also, steamers running from nearby cities and towns land visitors within the grounds.   Hotel accommodations are adequate and fairly good at reasonable prices.

Along the water front are situated the buildings of the different states, many of them duplicates of historic buildings, and containing historical and educational exhibits.  Beyond these, on both sides of the broad avenues are the large buildings devoted to the United States Government exhibits, manufacturers, marine mines and metallurgy, machinery, state exhibits, etc., and at the further part, near the entrance from the street cars, is the parade ground.  The military and naval features of the exhibit are much in evidence, as there are always a number of war ships anchored in the Roads and the regulars parade every afternoon on the parade ground.

There have been delays in the installation of some exhibits and in the completion of some of the decorative structures on the grounds, but the important features of the exposition are now complete.  The exhibits of minerals and natural resources, particularly of the Southern States, are good; of machinery, however, very little is shown and that only incidentally among other exhibits.

The principal exhibits relating to mines and mining are in the Mines and Metallurgy Building, though a number of quite complete and interesting collections of ores and minerals are shown in the exhibits of the several states and railroads in the States Exhibit Building.

The mines and metallurgy exhibition is in charge of Mr. James F. Dorsey, superintendent and under the management of Dr. Joseph Hyde Pratt; Dr. David T. Day, honorary director.  E. W. Parker, commissioner for coal, was instrumental in obtaining the coal exhibits in this building.

Graves went on to list and describe the various mineral exhibits by state, and when he finally came to West Virginia, he wrote:

West Virginia is represented particularly in this building by exhibits of the Pocahontas Coal Operation Association.  They show a pillar of coal 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 10 ft., weight 6 tons, taken from a single seam, also samples of coke.  The New River Co. also has a number of photographs of their different plants in the Pocahontas region.   The Davis Colliery Co. has a pillar of coal 3 ½ ft. x 3 ½ x 8 ft. high, which weighs 8 tons.  The same company shows a model colliery, prepared coal, and long pieces of Pocahontas coke.

In addition to the individual exhibits in this building, the State of West Virginia has a lofty monument of coal near the water front.  It is in the form of a column 16 feet square at the base, 12 feet 6 inches square at the top and 123 feet 6 inches high.  The column represents the average thickness of nineteen distinct coal seams mined commercially in West Virginia, the seams being placed in regular geological order, the oldest at the base.  This monument thus furnishes a graphic illustration of the state’s coal resources.

Among the firms presenting exhibits of coal and coke at the exposition was the Fairmont Coal Company.

Within in couple of months of this favorable promotion of West Virginia Coal at the Jamestown Exposition, this subsidiary of Consolidation Coal Company would receive some very bad publicity when its Monongah No. 6 and No. 8 coal mines blew up simultaneously—killing hundreds of coal miners and leaving a thousand widows and orphans to struggle for a living.

 Nevertheless, as a result of such notorious coal-mining publicity, West Virginia coal is now mined more safely.