Bituminous coal mining in Northern Missouri

Missouri was the first state west of the Mississippi to produce a commercial output of coal and, although in later years some of the western states have produced a larger yield, still the Missouri mines bid air to hold their present standing as there are hundreds of acres of virgin coal land in this state that will be able to be worked profitably after the eastern coal operators have worked out their thicker veins of coal. The coal is won from the grasp of Mother Earth by either room-and-pillar or longwall systems in the larger mines, each method being employed to advantage in some fields while both are employed in others --Introduction, page 1