Appalachia's Coal-Mined Landscapes:

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Carl E. Zipper
Jeff Skousen Editors

Appalachia’s
Coal-Mined
Landscapes
Resources and Communities in a New
Energy Era
Appalachia’s Coal-Mined Landscapes
Carl E. Zipper · Jeff Skousen
Editors

Appalachia’s Coal-Mined
Landscapes
Resources and Communities in a New Energy
Era
Editors
Carl E. Zipper Jeff Skousen
School of Plant and Environmental Sciences Division of Plant and Soil Science
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State West Virginia University
University Morgantown, WV, USA
Blacksburg, VA, USA

ISBN 978-3-030-57779-7 ISBN 978-3-030-57780-3 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57780-3

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

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Preface

Appalachian coal mining has been prominent during a significant period in American
history. Appalachian coal was essential to the expanding American economy in
the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Like other industries shaping America
during this period, coal mining had positive and negative impacts on the land and
people. Appalachian coal fueled the industrial development in the eastern USA during
much of the twentieth century, including steel mills and manufacturing that became
dominant producers of goods for the world. Appalachian coal also provided the
low-priced electricity essential to power this industrial development and to improve
the quality of life enjoyed by many. Appalachian coal is among the highest quality
coals in the world and as such was shipped throughout the USA to the northeast and
south into the Gulf states for electric generators, steel manufacturing, and other uses.
Because of its high quality, coal from Appalachia has also been exported to Europe
and Asia, bringing revenues back to the nation and region. Over more than a century,
Appalachian coal has contributed to America’s economic might and to industrial
development in other nations. However, the use of coal is declining as low-cost gas
and renewable energy replace coal as an energy source for electrical generation. As
we write this in mid-2020, Appalachian coal production has declined to levels last
seen in the nineteenth century, and few if any are predicting a renaissance and return
to levels of the recent past.
The benefits of Appalachian coal and its mining, however, have come at a cost.
Coal has dramatically transformed the bioecology and human economy of the
Appalachian coalfield, a region which is among the most biodiverse in non-tropical
areas of the planet. The region’s humid temperate climate provides a comfortable
living environment for human inhabitants and supports productive ecosystems for
natural life. Spared of glaciation in its southern extents and with terrain that aided
post-glacial migrations by flora and fauna, the rich biodiversity in Appalachia has
remained mostly intact. But in modern history, coal mining has impacted the human
society and transformed Appalachian landscapes dramatically. Due to coal mining,
many mountain peaks have been removed and replaced by plateaus; numerous
streams have been filled with waste rock; the mountain soils essential to the unique
terrestrial ecosystems have been replaced by fractured rocks; and extensive areas
have been undermined by excavated caverns, creating subsidence voids and altering
v
vi Preface

hydrology. Waters draining from many mines have been degraded chemically in a
manner that affects suitability as habitat for native life and use by residents. Human
communities that developed in an economy supported by coal, many with inhabitants
who were not prosperous even during coal’s booms, are now losing that support as
the industry struggles for its economic existence. Human inhabitants are less healthy,
on average, in coal-mining communities than in other Appalachian regions. Not all
regions of the Appalachian coalfield have been affected equally; some have experi-
enced more intense effects than others. Everywhere coal has been mined it has left
its mark.
The transformation of landscapes by human economic activity, as a generalization
of the phenomenon in the Appalachian coalfield, is not a unique occurrence in world
history as humans commonly alter their environment in the pursuit of economic
gain. The loess plateaus of eastern China, for example, have been transformed from
former rolling lands into terraced landscapes more suitable for agricultural produc-
tion. People have altered urban areas in many parts of the world, changing the
natural environment for housing, commercial, and industrial purposes. In parts of
South America, east Asia, the American heartland, and elsewhere, broad areas have
been cleared of natural vegetation and converted to agricultural production. Rarely,
however, have such large areas been transformed for the extraction of a mineral
resource. And rarely has such a large-scale transformation, such as that associated
with coal mining in Appalachia, been as intensively studied, especially during its
latter stages.
To those who walk the earth, the regional effects caused by the rise and fall of
Appalachian coal has been a slow-motion occurrence, one that transcends human
generations. Hence, no one generation or individual person has been able to expe-
rience fully the change from early pick-and-shovel mining to large earth-moving
equipment of today, and the transformations of landscapes and related human and
community impacts caused by mining. But from the standpoint of the region’s
natural resources and processes that formed them, the transformation has been rapid,
requiring less than a century. The region’s natural resources developed over eons in
Appalachia’s ancient landscapes through natural processes that cannot be replicated
by humans, no matter how much money might be spent and even with the most
advanced technologies.
We have both spent scientific careers working in the Appalachian coalfield and
have seen and experienced a small microcosm of that change, including the rapid
development of large-scale mining and the recent mining decline. To us, the change
seems to be occurring like a slow-moving whirlwind, made all the more real by
our still-increasing understanding of its past and lingering effects and the profound
nature of their influence. When we both started working in the Appalachian coalfield,
our scientific focus was on the effects of mining on soils, plants, and drainage. Overt
effects such as vegetation loss could be easily seen and measured, and these problems
were relatively easy to fix with best management practices as a means of providing
short-term solutions. But with age and deeper understanding of natural processes, we
see these effects of mining on soils and water, flora and fauna, ecosystem structure
and function as far more subtle and problematic than we formerly perceived, with
Preface vii

longer-term implications not well understood. Further and also with the perspective
that comes with age, that set of problems also seems relatively minor compared to
those stirring in the human dimension, and which are now becoming even more
apparent as the economic support provided by mining to coalfield communities is
falling away.
Our purpose here is to document the condition of Appalachian-mined landscapes
and communities after more than a century of coal mining. This book is about
the landscapes that are being left in the wake of Appalachian mining and those
landscapes’ inhabitants.
Countless studies of how mining has affected land, soils, water bodies, communi-
ties, and other resources have been performed, but most such studies have assessed
individual resources and conditions in isolation. Our goal here is to bring that infor-
mation together, to describe the resources of the Appalachian coalfield as they are
today after the coal-mining whirlwind of the past two centuries. Our goal is to do this
in a scientific way using science-based literature, and while not bestowing accolades
of praise or pointing fingers of blame. We present this information with an intent to
document regional resources’ current condition with the cold eye of scientific objec-
tivity, but also while explaining the scientific concepts that underlie what can be seen
with our eyes to the extent that we and our co-authors understand them. We also
endeavor to communicate what we have learned about managing the mined land-
scapes to reduce their environmental impact and otherwise improve their capacity to
support ecological processes and human endeavors.
It is also our goal to point to the future, when we can, because the mined landscapes
of Appalachia support people and their communities, many of which will remain even
as local mining declines or ceases. The mined landscapes and their use by humans
are ever changing as new ideas and resources are introduced and implemented. As
the future unfolds, none of us can know for sure how that will happen, especially in
the human societal dimension. But we think we can predict the direction of certain
biological, biophysical, geochemical, and similar processes that have been set in
motion by the landscape disturbances caused by Appalachian mining. With this
knowledge, appropriate choices may be made on management of these new lands
for ecosystem services and human use.
It is our hope that this book, and the information contained therein, can aid the
management of Appalachian landscapes for the benefit of the region’s human inhab-
itants. We make that statement while believing that the advance of scientific under-
standing, and its strategic application, can improve the human condition. It is also
our hope that residents and managers of other world regions facing the prospect of
intensive resource extraction can learn from what has occurred in the Appalachian
coalfield.

Blacksburg, USA Carl E. Zipper

Morgantown, USA Jeff Skousen
Acknowledgements

We offer our sincere thanks to the many people who made this book possible.
We express gratitude to the authors, especially the lead authors who responded
to our invitations to contribute chapters, answered our pleas to make deadlines, and
put forth their efforts on top of many other duties. We respect their expertise and
appreciate their essential contributions to this work.
We thank those who served as reviewers for the individual chapters, including
Mary Beth Adams, Aysha Bodenhamer, Nicole Cavender, Charles Cravotta, W. Lee
Daniels, Nick Fedorko, John Fike, Erin Haynes, Robert Hedin, Jeff Howard, Brent
Means, Robert Nairn, Greg Pond, Eric Perry, David Soucek, and Jessica Turner-Skoff.
We extend sincere thanks to Patricia Donavon for the maps and geospatial anal-
yses and to Kathryn Haering for the drawings and diagrams that appear in multiple
chapters.
We also express thanks to research sponsors for contributing to our knowledge
and experience in the Appalachian coalfield. These include the corporate spon-
sors of Powell River Project, who stayed with us even as our research priorities
went beyond direct mining and reclamation effects. We also express appreciation to
Virginia Tech for continuing its funding support for Powell River Project through
many years. We thank the many people who have worked with us as collaborators
over the years, including those with government agencies, coal companies, consulting
firms, and community organizations and other residents; we thank them for providing
access to properties, confiding in us, sharing ideas and friendships, and for otherwise
supporting our studies of Appalachia’s coal-mined landscapes.

Carl E. Zipper
Jeff Skousen

ix
Contents

The Appalachian Coalfield in Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Carl E. Zipper, Mary Beth Adams, and Jeff Skousen
Environmental Implications of Regional Geology and Coal Mining
in the Appalachians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Kenneth A. Eriksson and W. Lee Daniels
Coal Mining and Reclamation in Appalachia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Jeff Skousen and Carl E. Zipper
Soils on Appalachian Coal-Mined Lands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Jeff Skousen, W. Lee Daniels, and Carl E. Zipper
Plant Communities on Appalachian Mined Lands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Kenton Sena, Jennifer A. Franklin, Rebecca M. Swab, and Sarah L. Hall
Terrestrial Wildlife in the Post-mined Appalachian Landscape:
Status and Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Christopher M. Lituma, John J. Cox, Stephen F. Spear,
John W. Edwards, Jesse L. De La Cruz, Lisa I. Muller, and W. Mark Ford
Conversion Options for Mining-Affected Lands and Waters
in Appalachia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Carl E. Zipper, Carmen T. Agouridis, Christopher D. Barton, and Jeff Skousen
Acid Mine Drainage in Appalachia: Sources, Legacy,
and Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Natalie Kruse Daniels, Julie A. LaBar, and Louis M. McDonald
Contaminants in Appalachian Water Resources Generated
by Non-acid-forming Coal-Mining Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Elyse V. Clark, Carl E. Zipper, David J. Soucek, and W. Lee Daniels
Response of Aquatic Life to Coal Mining in Appalachia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
George T. Merovich Jr., Nathaniel P. Hitt, Eric R. Merriam, and Jess W. Jones

xi
xii Contents

Economic Trends in Appalachian Coalfield Counties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

George D. Santopietro and Carl E. Zipper
Human Health in Coalfield Communities of Appalachia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Julia M. Gohlke
The Appalachian Coalfield’s Energy Transition and Prospects . . . . . . . . . 337
Carl E. Zipper, Jeff Skousen, and Christopher D. Barton
Editors and Contributors

About the Editors

Carl E. Zipper is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech.

He received his Ph.D from Virginia Tech in 1986, and was a member of Virginia
Tech’s faculty until retiring in 2019. He taught classes on environmental science to
undergraduate and graduate students. He served as Director of Powell River Project,
Virginia Tech’s coal-mined land reclamation research and education program, for 21
years. He conducts research on environmental effects of Appalachian coal mining,
and on environmental restoration of mining-influenced lands and waters.

Jeffrey G. Skousen is a Professor of Soil Science and the Land Reclamation

Specialist at West Virginia University. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in
Range Science at Brigham Young University, and Ph.D. in Agronomy at Texas A&M
University in 1985. He teaches two classes: Introduction to Environmental Science
and Reclamation of Disturbed Soils. He conducts research on acid soils, mined land
reclamation, revegetation, reforestation, biomass for bioenergy, post-mining land
use, and acid mine drainage control and treatment. He consults regularly with coal
operators, consultants, regulators, and landowners on reclamation and water quality
issues.

Contributors

Mary Beth Adams U.S. Forest Service, Morgantown, WV, USA

Carmen T. Agouridis University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
Christopher D. Barton University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
Elyse V. Clark Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA, USA
John J. Cox University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

xiii
xiv Editors and Contributors

W. Lee Daniels Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

Jesse L. De La Cruz Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
John W. Edwards West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
Kenneth A. Eriksson Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
W. Mark Ford U.S. Geological Survey, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Jennifer A. Franklin University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
Julia M. Gohlke Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Sarah L. Hall Berea College, Berea, KY, USA
Nathaniel P. Hitt U.S. Geological Survey, Leetown Science Center, Kearneysville,
WV, USA
Jess W. Jones U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Natalie Kruse Daniels Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
Julie A. LaBar Centenary University, Hackettstown, NJ, USA
Christopher M. Lituma West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
Louis M. McDonald West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
George T. Merovich Jr. Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA, USA
Eric R. Merriam U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Lisa I. Muller University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
George D. Santopietro Radford University, Radford, VA, USA
Kenton Sena University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
Jeff Skousen West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
David J. Soucek Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, IL, USA
Stephen F. Spear The Wilds, Cumberland, OH, USA
Rebecca M. Swab Restoration Ecologist, Cumberland, OH, USA
Carl E. Zipper Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
The Appalachian Coalfield in Historical
Context

Carl E. Zipper, Mary Beth Adams, and Jeff Skousen

Abstract The Appalachian coalfield occurs within the eastern United States (US).
This mountainous landscape is formed from natural dissection of sedimentary
geologic strata with interbedded seams of coal and serves as headwaters for multiple
rivers. The region’s natural ecosystems, with a primary vegetation of mostly decid-
uous forest, are among the non-tropical world’s most biodiverse. After first humans
arrived more than 10,000 years ago, the first Europeans came to Appalachia as fur
trappers and traders; agriculturalists and merchants came soon after. The region’s
diverse forests and rich mineral resources supported economic development as settle-
ments expanded and populations grew. Coal mining began in the mid-1700s to supply
commercial and residential users. Large-scale timber harvesting and coal mining
stimulated railroad expansion in the mid-1800s, which improved transportation link-
ages to more populated areas and further increased coal demand. The American
nation’s industrial development increased usage of iron and steel, further expanding
coal demands. Coal was essential to American electrification during the twentieth
century. With numerous and thick coal seams accessible by both surface and under-
ground mines, Appalachia was the US’s primary coal-producing region from the
1800s through the 1970s. Appalachian coal mining has influenced the region’s
landscapes, forests, water, and people over more than two centuries.

Keywords Coal · Forests · Industrial development · Railroad · Steel · Timber

C. E. Zipper (B)
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
e-mail: czip@vt.edu
M. B. Adams
U.S. Forest Service, Morgantown, WV, USA
J. Skousen
West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 1

C. E. Zipper and J. Skousen (eds.), Appalachia’s Coal-Mined Landscapes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57780-3_1
2 C. E. Zipper et al.

1 Introduction

The Appalachian coalfield is a mountainous and forested region of the eastern US

with biological resources that are among the world’s most biodiverse (Fig. 1). The
region is one of complexity, with a long history of landscape development and diver-
sity of life forms. Within this ancient landscape, coal mining has been a major influ-
ence on human populations and environment. Many Appalachian communities devel-
oped with mining as a primary economic driver, and coal mining has affected human
attitudes and culture (Bell and York 2010). Looking beyond regional boundaries,
Appalachian coal has contributed to American prosperity and industrial development
for more than a century.

Fig. 1 The Appalachian coalfield, as it occurs in seven states of eastern U.S.A. The dark area
represents surface expressions of geologic formations associated with bituminous and Pennsyl-
vania anthracite coals. Rivers of the region include the Allegheny (Alleg.), Monongahela (Mon.),
Schuylkill (Schuy.), Guayandotte (Guay), and other rivers as represented
The Appalachian Coalfield in Historical Context 3

This chapter reviews the Appalachian coalfield’s natural and human history
through the present day. In chapters that follow, the Appalachian coalfield’s land-
scapes and communities are described as they have been affected by centuries of
mining and removal of more than 45 billion tons of coal (Milici 1997; Zipper 2020).

2 Natural History

2.1 Landscapes

The Appalachian coalfield occurs within the oldest mountains on earth; their forma-
tion began early in the Paleozoic Era as thick layers of sediment and carbonate
rock accumulated on the shallow sea bottom. When the seas receded, terrestrial
plant communities thrived, producing organic matter that deposited with sediments.
As drifting continental plates collided, they folded, faulted, and lithified former
surface deposits. The mountain building was followed by deep erosion, with streams
depositing layers of eroded sediments and rock debris downslope in nearby lowlands.
Thus, the region’s geology is sedimentary with beds of sandstone, shale, and coal,
but often with overlying older rocks (Eriksson and Daniels 2021). Repeated uplift
energized streams, which rapidly cut downward into the ancient bedrock. Some
streams flowed along weak layers defining the folds and faults created millions of
years earlier. Other streams down-cut rapidly across the resistant folded rocks of the
mountain core. Then, around 220 million years ago, the prehistoric land mass known
as Pangea began to break apart, and the plate tectonics that created the then-towering
Appalachian Mountains were stilled. Weathering and erosion prevailed, wearing
away the mountains and producing the complex and highly dissected mountainous
topography found in the Appalachians today. In the eastern parts of Appalachia,
terrain was formed within faulted and folded sedimentary rocks, and stream erosion
has created a mountainous landscape of parallel ridges and valleys. Further west,
a former plateau of generally flat-lying sedimentary geologic strata was dissected
by stream drainages, forming a seemingly random pattern of narrow ridgetops, side
slopes, and narrow valleys (Fenneman 1938). This mixture of youthful valleys and
mature plateaus results in a complex terrain with steep slopes and deep gorges, narrow
ridges, hills, and valleys prevailing in what is now known as central Appalachia, and
with similar features but less steepness to the north and south.
There was a more recent geologic contribution to the development of landscapes
and ecosystems in the Appalachian coalfield—continental glaciation. Rivers of ice,
often thousands of meters in depth, covered the northern part of the region and
contributed to the creation of current river drainages, particularly the Ohio River
system. The glaciers, with their arctic air masses and icy winds, also created condi-
tions suitable for boreal vegetation which extended as far south as present-day
Georgia. As the glaciers retreated around 20,000 years ago, the climate changed
4 C. E. Zipper et al.

again, and the boreal vegetation migrated to higher elevations and to the north even
as humans began moving into the landscape.
Today, elevations in the Appalachian coalfield range from around 900 feet (275 m)
in Ohio to as high as 4863 feet in West Virginia (1482 m). The region’s climate
is humid and temperate and varies with elevation and topography. The change in
elevation, topography, and aspect can cause dramatic shifts in climate, e.g. the climate
of a protected mountain valley will differ from that of an adjacent ridge top. Also,
because major air masses move from west to east, terrain produces pronounced
effects on precipitation, with a distinct rain shadow in some leeward areas east of the
Allegheny Front divide. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 inches (890 mm)
in valleys to 80 inches (2040 mm) on the highest peaks and is well distributed
throughout the year. Because of the rugged topography, aspect exerts micro-climate
effects. For example, southwest- and south-facing slopes which face the sun during
mid-day and afternoon, are typically warmer and drier than adjacent northeast- and
north-facing slopes. In steep terrain, west-facing slopes can receive more rainfall than
east-facing slopes on the lee (drier) side of the ridges. The complex topography also
drives variation in vegetation and soil, with differences in temperature and moisture
often reflected by differences in forest composition and abundance, under-canopy
vegetation, and productivity.
Because erosion is a major influence on these landscapes, soils are generally
shallow except in depositional environments such as foot slopes, coves, and valleys,
and along streams and rivers. The soils may be genetically young because of recent
deposition but often with constituent sediments that are highly weathered. Due to
forest vegetation, most soils are naturally acidic but high in surface organic matter.
Water is generally abundant due to the ample and consistent precipitation throughout
the year. Natural water quality is often dilute, with low concentrations of dissolved
elements due to the highly weathered terrain. In forested watersheds, natural waters
are generally of excellent quality but can be impaired after significant land-surface
disturbances. Water flow in streams and rivers can be quite variable because of the
high relief and shallow soils.

2.2 Ecosystems

Regional ecosystems have been shaped by the interactions of landscape, climate,

natural and land-use history. The rich topography and dynamic climate created a
complex set of varied ecosystems, with diverse flora and fauna (Butler et al. 2015).
Pickering et al. (2003) reported that the Appalachian region is home to 2000 species
of plants, 200 species of birds, 78 mammals, 58 reptiles, and 76 amphibians. The
central and southern Appalachians are considered a “hotspot” for aquatic diversity
because of the many diverse habitats created by the humid-temperate climate, the
complex topography, diverse stream sections and patterns, and the relative geologic
stability over evolutionary history (Chaplin et al. 2000; Flather et al. 2008).
The Appalachian Coalfield in Historical Context 5

The region is generally forested and has been since the last Ice Age. The region’s
extensive forests are well-described by E. Lucy Braun (1950) in her classic book
Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America. As the Laurentide ice sheet retreated,
the geographical ranges of temperate tree species migrated northward while boreal
species followed the ice retreat northward and migrated to higher elevations. The
generally northeast-southwest orientation of the ridges and valleys east of the
Allegheny Front encouraged species migrations. Also, vertical zonation of vege-
tation prevails, that is, the lower elevation limits of each forest type increase toward
the south, a result largely due to climate.
Like the topography, the vegetation is complex across landscapes, and indeed the
two are often interrelated, with identifiable forest ecosystem types commonly found
in particular elevational/temperature/moisture conditions. The most diverse are the
mixed mesophytic forest types, which are largely confined to rich, moist montane
soils, and may contain more than 25 tree species on a site. Some of the characteristic
canopy tree species are red and white oak (Quercus rubra and Q. alba), sugar maple
(Acer saccharum), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), tuliptree (Liriodendron
tulipifera), white ash (Fraxinus americana), white basswood (Tilia heterophylla),
yellow buckeye (Aesculus octandra), and yellow birch (Betula alleganiensis). Other
common trees are red maple (Acer rubrum), shagbark and bitternut hickories (Carya
ovata and C. cordiformis) and black or sweet birch (Betula lenta). Small understory
trees and shrubs include flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), hophornbeam (Ostrya
virginiana), witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) and spicebush (Lindera benzoin).
Perennial and annual herbs are abundant, among them herbal and medicinal plants
such as American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis),
bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) and black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa).
These same trees, shrubs, and herbs are also widely distributed in less rich, mesic
forests that generally occupy cool coves, stream valleys, and flood plains throughout
the region at low and intermediate elevations. At higher elevations and in the north,
these mesic forests give way to less-diverse northern hardwood forests with canopies
dominated by American beech, sugar maple, American basswood (Tilia americana),
black cherry (Prunus serotina), and yellow birch and with far fewer species of shrubs
and herbs.
Drier and rockier uplands and ridges are occupied by oak-chestnut type forests
dominated by a variety of oaks (Quercus spp.), hickories (Carya spp.) and, in the past,
by the American chestnut (Castanea dentata). The American chestnut was virtually
eliminated as a canopy species by the introduced fungal chestnut blight (Cryphonec-
taria parasitica). Today, it can still be found in the understory as sapling-sized root
sprouts, which succumb to the blight when they are larger. In present-day forest
canopies, chestnut has been largely replaced by oaks. The richer oak forests, which
often grade into mesic types in coves and on moist slopes, have dominantly white
and northern red oaks, while the driest sites, particularly those in the rain shadow
of the Alleghenies, are dominated by chestnut oak (Q. montana), or sometimes by
scarlet (Q. coccinea) or northern red oaks, often intermixed with shortleaf, Virginia
and pitch pine (Pinus echinata, P. virginiana and P. rigida). The drier oak forests
generally lack the diverse small tree, shrub, and herb layers of mesic forests.
The Appalachian Coalfield in Historical Context 17

Fig. 5 Energy sources for electrical energy, 1920–2017. (Upper) Total electrical energy consumed
in the US, estimated electrical energy fueled by coal, and proportion of the US-consumed electrical
energy fueled by coal. (Lower) Proportions of US electrical energy consumption powered by various
energy sources. Data from BOC (1975) and EIA (2020b) as compiled by Zipper (2020). “Other”
energy sources include wood/biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, waste, and other miscellaneous

Appalachian coal production increased steadily through the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries, reaching 478 million tons in 1926 before declining almost to
half that level in 1932 during the depths of the Great Depression (Fig. 3). Produc-
tion increased leading up to World War II and then exceeded pre-depression levels,
reaching 511 million tons in 1947; but declined again to <400 million tons annu-
ally during the economic transition following the War. Through the mid-twentieth
century, coal was the fuel of choice for multiple uses that rely on other fuels today.
During much of the twentieth century, coal producers served multiple markets, many
of which were economically sensitive, resulting in dramatic fluctuations of mining
activity (Fig. 6). Railroads, industrial plants, home heating, and even ocean shippers,
for example, were major coal consumers in past years. American coal production,
and pricing for Appalachian coal, boomed again during the late 1970s in response
to the oil supply disruptions of that era which stimulated greater coal demand for
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Title: All that happened in a week

A story for little children

Author: Jane Helen Findlater

Illustrator: Rosa C. Petherick

Release date: October 7, 2023 [eBook #71825]

Language: English

Original publication: EN: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1905

Credits: This eBook was produced by: Delphine Lettau, Pat McCoy &
the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at
https://www.pgdpcanada.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALL THAT

HAPPENED IN A WEEK ***
“Do you live in that nice place among the baskets?”
Page 51.
ALL THAT HAPPENED
IN A WEEK A STORY
FOR LITTLE CHILDREN

By

Jane H. Findlater

LONDON, EDINBURGH,
DUBLIN, & NEW YORK
THOMAS NELSON
AND SONS

CONTENTS.
 I. The Arrival, 9
II. The Wasps, 15
III. The Doctor, 20
IV. The White Stones, 27
V. A Very Bad Child, 32
VI. A Day in Bed, 41
VII. The Adventure in the Lane, 49
VIII. The Ship, 60
IX. The Washing Day, 69
X. The Sea Beasts, 79
XI. The Last Day at Seafield, 86
 CHAPTER I.
THE ARRIVAL.

ne summer afternoon many years ago a child, called Peggy

Roberts, arrived at the door of her aunt’s house in an open
carriage. Peggy was just eight years old. She had been in
the train since early in the morning, and was very tired when the
carriage stopped at the door of Seafield. Then she noticed that
everything round her was new and different from things at home, and
she forgot about feeling tired. The house was exactly like the tea-
caddy that stood on the dining-room side-board at home, and had
been brought from China by her uncle—that is to say, it was quite
square, and you felt as if you could lift off the top like the lid of the
tea-caddy.
Right up to the windows there grew such a
lovely rose-tree, covered all over with
branches of bright red roses.
“O Martin, let me get some of the roses!”
Peggy cried, standing still on the steps of the
house.
Martin was her aunt’s maid, a stout, cross-
looking woman, who always refused to allow
Peggy to do anything she wanted.
“No, no, Miss Peggy, come in for your tea;
the roses are far too high up,” she said.
Peggy looked up at the beautiful dangling branches, and her mouth
went down at the corners; she thought nothing would make her
happy unless she got one of them.
It must have been because she was so tired that she began to
cry about nothing in this way. The coachman was more good-
natured than Martin, however, for he stood up on the box of the
carriage and gathered a bunch of the roses. “Here, missie,” he said,
leaning down from his high seat, and handing them to Peggy.
“Oh! oh! oh!” Peggy cried, burying her nose in the lovely red
bunch.
But then something horrid happened: a whole family of great, fat,
brown earwigs came hurrying and dropping out of the roses, in the
greatest speed to get away. Down went the roses on to the steps,
and Peggy cried in earnest now.
There was nothing she hated like earwigs, and to have a whole
nest of them fall out on her frock was too much for her altogether.
And then Martin was so pleased.
“See there, Miss Peggy; that’s what you get for wanting to pick
flowers!” she said. But she did brush away the earwigs, and stamped
upon the biggest of them to Peggy’s great disgust. Then they went
into the house, and she had to speak to her aunt; and, of course, she
had nothing to say to her.
Tea was on the table. A different kind of bread was there from the
home-bread Peggy knew. She went and stood beside the table and
looked at it, then put out her finger and touched it.
“Don’t touch things on the table!” said Aunt Euphemia.
“I’m sorry!” said Peggy, and wanted to cry again. But the door
opened, and such an exceedingly nice cat came walking in, just as if
the house belonged to it, that she forgot all about crying.
She ran to the cat, and went down on her knees on the carpet to
stroke him.
“He is called Patrick,” said Aunt Euphemia; “take care that he
does not scratch you.”
But Patrick did not mean to scratch. He rubbed his big yellow
face against Peggy in the most friendly way, and then walked to the
tea-table and jumped up on a chair and mewed twice, very loudly,
exactly as if he were asking for his tea.
“Patrick is very punctual,” said Aunt Euphemia.
 She poured out a saucer of milk for him, and put it on the floor.
Peggy sat down on the carpet to watch him take it. His little red
tongue was so rough and funny, she laughed out aloud at seeing it
dart in and out of the milk. Patrick never paused for a minute till he
had licked the saucer so dry that you would have thought it had been
washed. Then he licked his long, yellow whiskers, and walked away
to the other end of the room, jumped on to the sofa, and was fast
asleep in a minute. Peggy wanted to waken him, and make him play
with her; but Aunt Euphemia wouldn’t allow her. As her own tea was
brought in at that moment, however, she became interested in it.
Martin came in with Peggy’s pinafore, and glanced at the tea-tray
while she put it on. “I’ll just bring a kitchen cup for Miss Peggy,” she
said, adding aside to Aunt Euphemia, “She’s an awfu’ breaker!”
Peggy blushed hotly. She knew that she often broke things, but it
was horrid of Martin to remind Aunt Euphemia of it just then. She had
wanted to take tea out of one of those nice cups with the roses on
them; it wouldn’t taste a bit nice out of a kitchen cup. But it was of no
use to object. Martin always had her way, so the kitchen cup was
brought, and an ugly kitchen plate also. It was wonderful how good
tea tasted after all, and the strange bread had a nice salt taste, and
the strawberry jam was different too. Altogether, Peggy enjoyed tea
very much.
When it was done, she went across to the sofa to see what
Patrick was doing. He opened his green eyes, and looked at her
sleepily. One of his paws was lying out on the cushion. Peggy took it
up in her hand and felt the funny little pads of black skin on his feet.
She knew, because she had a cat at home, that if you give a cat’s
paw ever such a tiny squeeze with your hand, its claws pop out from
between the little pads of black skin. She had sometimes done it to
old Tuffy at home; so she gave Patrick’s paw the tiniest squeeze
possible, just to see the claws slide out from their sheaths. But
instead of receiving this in Tuffy’s kind way, Patrick put out his paw in
a furious rage at her, and buried all his claws in her arm. Oh, what a
howl Peggy gave, and what long, red scratches appeared down her
arm! Then Patrick jumped down from his pillow with an angry fizz,
and walked out of the room.
 Aunt Euphemia rang the bell without a word.
“Martin,” she said, “put Miss Peggy to bed; she has been teasing
Patrick!”
And Peggy, sobbing with pain, went off to bed.
 CHAPTER II.
THE WASPS.

ou will not have read even as much as this without

finding out that Peggy was always getting into trouble.
And indeed it was her nature to do so, poor dear,
though it seldom was through any serious fault on her
part. The first evening of her visit to Seafield had
ended in this fight with Patrick, and the next morning
something much worse happened. I must tell you all about it.
The sun was shining very brightly next morning, and Peggy felt
as happy as possible. On the way downstairs she met Patrick; and
because she was very sweet-tempered and forgiving, she sat down
on the top step at once, and held out her hand to him—a little warily,
of course.
She was delighted to see that Patrick, too, wanted to be on
friendly terms. He came and rubbed his head against her and
purred. So they made it up, and Peggy ran downstairs.
“May I play in the garden, auntie?” she asked at breakfast.
Aunt Euphemia considered for a moment. “Yes, if you do not
leave the garden, and do not tread upon the flower-beds, or gather
the flowers,” she answered at last.
Peggy did not much mind these regulations. It looked so
delightful out there in the sunshine that she wanted nothing else. So
when breakfast was over, she ran out and began to wander about,
looking at all the new things—quite new most of them were to her.
Different flowers grew here from those that filled the garden at home,
and they were so nice to smell, even if she might not pick them. In
one corner grew a bush of a great feathery shrub that she had never
seen before. She walked round and round it, and longed to have one
of the long feathery switches for a wand, such as fairies use.
 Just as she was thinking how much she would like this, a young
man came across the lawn with the mowing-machine. He looked
good-natured, Peggy thought, and she wondered if she might ask
him about the wand. She did not know his name, however, and felt a
little shy. She stood still, with her finger in her mouth (a bad habit she
had), and watched him while he poured oil into the little holes of the
mowing-machine. Then she summoned up courage to speak to him.
“Man,” she said, in a very shy voice—“man, I would like one of
these branches for a fairy-wand; do you think I might have one?”
She pointed to the bush.
He looked up with a grunt and a laugh, flung down the oil-can,
and drew a big clasp-knife out of his pocket. “One o’ thae yins?” he
asked in a kind voice.
She nodded, and pointed to the branch she specially desired.
“What’s your name, please?” she asked.
“James, missie,” he said, hacking away at the branch while he
spoke, and in a minute he handed her the lovely long spray she had
wanted.
Oh, what a wand it was!—longer a great deal than herself, and so
supple that it bent just like a whip.
“See here, missie,” said James; “ye’ll no can manage it that way;
I’ll peel it to ye.” He took the branch and began peeling off the outer
skin till it showed a satin-like white wood.
“Oh, let me peel!” cried Peggy; and together they peeled away till
the branch was bare—all except a beautiful bunch like a green tassel
at the tip.
With this in her hand, Peggy walked away across the lawn, and
you may fancy how delightful it was. She pretended she was a fairy
queen, and a touch of her wand would do whatever she chose. She
walked about muttering charms to the flowers, and then saw her
friend Patrick lying on a bank. She graciously extended the tip of her
wand to him, and he played with it for a minute quite like a kitten.
 But then it struck her that she
would walk round the house. And
outside one of the windows she saw
the funniest thing hanging. It looked
like a little bottle made of flimsy gray
paper. She wondered what it could
possibly be; and standing right under
it, she poked up her hand and tickled
the mouth of the gray-paper bottle.
The next moment, she heard a terrible
buzzing noise, and a cloud of wasps
came flying down upon her. Peggy
never knew what she did. Down went
the wand, and she screamed aloud, for
the wasps were stinging her all over
her hands and face. The next moment
James came running up the bank to her. He caught her up in his
arms and ran across the lawn. They both seemed surrounded and
followed by the wasps, and a new sting came on poor Peggy’s face
or neck every moment. There was a gate in the garden wall, and
James ran to the gate, opened it, and crossed the road. The next
minute Peggy saw that he was wading into the sea with her and
dipping her under the water.
The wasps fell away in the distance, an angry, buzzing, black
cloud; and poor Peggy, more dead than alive, found herself being
carried back to the house, all her clothes dripping with the salt water.
James was dripping too, and moving his head in a queer way as if
his neck hurt him.
 CHAPTER III.
THE DOCTOR.

hough it was only ten o’clock in the morning,

Peggy was glad enough to be put to bed at
once when she got back to the house. Martin
and Aunt Euphemia rubbed all her stings with
washing-blue and earth, and after that the
worst of the pain went out of them. But how
Peggy’s head did begin to ache! Then she got
sleepy, and had funny dreams, and woke up
crying, and couldn’t eat the nice dinner Martin brought up to her.
Martin was quite kind too, and tried to get her to eat; but it was no
use—she did not want anything. It was very hot too—oh, so hot,
Peggy couldn’t lie still, and tumbled about in bed. At last, just when
she was so hot that she sat up to see if that would make her cooler,
Aunt Euphemia came in, bringing with her a strange man, who laid
Peggy down on the pillows again, and took hold of her wrist with one
hand, while he held his watch in the other.
“This is the doctor, Peggy,” said Aunt Euphemia in explanation.
“Do the stings hurt you still, Peggy?” he asked, pulling up her
sleeves to look at the marks on her arm. But Peggy scarcely knew
what hurt her most, her head was so sore, and she felt so sick.
“I am going to make you quite well,” the doctor said; “but you
must take something nasty first.”
He looked at Peggy and laughed.
Aunt Euphemia looked very stern. “I will make her take it!” she
said.
“Oh, Peggy is too good to need to be made to take things, I’m
sure,” said the doctor.
Peggy sat up suddenly in bed.
 “If you give it to me quick,” she said to the doctor, “I’ll take it!”
“Very well; here it is,” he said, shaking a powder into a glass, and
holding it out to Peggy.
Aunt Euphemia expected her to taste it and declare she couldn’t
take it; but Peggy drank the medicine right off without a word, and
lay down again.
“Poor little soul! Keep her in bed to-morrow, and I fancy she will
be all right next day,” said the doctor.—“Good-night, Peggy; go to
sleep, and if you are quite well on Thursday when I come you shall
have a ride on my horse.”
These were the last words Peggy heard, and she fell asleep very
soon, and slept all night long.
It is horrid to be kept in bed when one feels quite well. Peggy
wanted to get up and go out next day, and instead, had to lie still with
nothing to amuse her. The bed she was in was of a kind you never
see nowadays, with four huge mahogany pillars supporting red
damask curtains. It was just like sleeping in a tent.
Peggy found that by sitting high up on the pillows she could see
out of the window. The sea was right in front of the house, and a little
harbour filled with ships. There was a funny noise always going on at
the harbour, and Martin told her it was the ships being loaded with
coal. In the evening, just when Peggy was very dull, she saw a ship
with great white sails come floating along. There was scarcely any
wind, so every one of the sails was up, and it looked like a big white
bird. Then, as it came near the mouth of the harbour, it stood quite
still in the water, and a little steamer went puffing out to it. A rope
was thrown to the ship, and by this rope it was towed into the
harbour. Peggy could hear the men calling out to one another and
laughing.
“Maybe, if you are good, Miss Peggy, I’ll take ye down to the
harbour one day,” said Martin.
“Might I get on to one of the ships?” Peggy asked.
 “No, no—dirty places—all coal-dust; whatever would Miss
Roberts say to that?”
“Oh, but I would like to be on a ship, and the coal-dust would do
me no harm,” pleaded Peggy.
“There’s nothing but dirty Germans on the ships, Miss Peggy—
speaking like monkeys, and rings in their ears—Spanish, and Dutch,
and Italian, some of them. No, no; it’s no place for you!”
Peggy said no more. But, would you believe it, she decided that
she must see these men with rings in their ears, who spoke like
monkeys, however she managed it. And with this thought she fell
asleep.
Dr. Seaton came on Thursday, and by that time Peggy was quite
well, and out of bed again.
“May I take her down the avenue on my horse, Miss Roberts?” he
asked of Aunt Euphemia. “I promised her that I would.”
“Oh, don’t trouble with the child,” said Aunt Euphemia. “I mean to
take her for a drive with me this afternoon.”
There was a moment’s
pause, and Peggy looked very
hard at Dr. Seaton—very hard
indeed. A drive with Aunt
Euphemia would be quite
different from a ride with him,
she thought.
“Mayn’t I take her? She shall
not get into any mischief,” he
said.
Peggy gave his hand a little squeeze to show what she felt about
it, and Aunt Euphemia consented.
Dr. Seaton’s horse was tied to a ring at the door—a high, gray
beast. It had taken a mouthful of the earwig roses, and was
munching away at them when Peggy came down the steps.
 “O horse, there are such lots of earwigs in these roses,” she said
in disgust, “I am sure they can’t be nice to eat!”
Dr. Seaton laughed, and told Peggy the horse didn’t mind the
taste of earwigs a bit. Then he lifted her up on to the shiny saddle
that made a nice creaking noise, and gave her the reins into her own
hands, while he held her on. The horse stepped away down the
avenue so obediently, just as if he were quite accustomed to having
Peggy on his back. It was delightful, being so high up, and feeling
the horse move. Peggy thought it made up for the wasps.
“I’m glad the wasps made me ill,” she said, “or I wouldn’t have
had this ride.”
At the gate they came in sight of the sea, and Peggy
remembered what Martin had told her.
“Oh, Martin told me the men on the ships talked like monkeys
and had rings in their ears,” she said, “and I want to see them.”
“Have you never been on a ship?” Dr. Seaton asked.
“No, never. The sea doesn’t come near home, you know,” Peggy
explained.
“Well, would you like to come with me some day on to one?
Would Aunt Euphemia let you? I go to see a boy with a broken arm
on one of the ships. I’ll take you, if your aunt lets you come.”
Peggy was quite sure now that it was worth while being ill. Dr.
Seaton lifted her down off the horse, and told her to run back up the
avenue.
“I’d like just to kiss the horse’s nose first,” she said. “He has been
so nice.”
But Dr. Seaton suggested it would be wiser to pat him—just in
case he were to bite; so Peggy contented herself with this, and then
ran away up the avenue as pleased as possible.
 CHAPTER IV.
THE WHITE STONES.

artin will put on your hat and jacket, Peggy,

and you will come out for a nice drive with me
at three o’clock,” said Aunt Euphemia at lunch.
This seemed a pleasant thing to do, but Peggy
did not look pleased. She sat quite still and
made no answer.
“Don’t you wish to come?” asked Aunt
Euphemia at last.
“No,” said truthful Peggy. The fact was, she
had found such a delightful new game that she
wanted to go on playing it all the rest of her life.
“What would you do if you stayed at home?” asked Aunt
Euphemia.
Peggy would not say. It spoils a game so much to explain it to
other people.
“I’d just like to stay and play in the garden,” she said.
Aunt Euphemia was not at all pleased. She thought it was
because Peggy did not love her that she refused to go out with her.
“Very well,” she said; “of course, I do not wish to take a little girl
with me who does not care for me.”
Peggy felt sorry, but she couldn’t explain; it would have spoilt
everything, you know. She stood on the steps and watched Aunt
Euphemia drive away, and then she clapped her hands, and danced
off into the garden. A flight of old stone steps led down from one part
of the garden to another; beside the steps there was a rockery, and
Peggy had found among the stones a lot of lumps of soft white chalk.