Lehigh Mines
One thing that was of interest in this study is that Mr. Toulmin had many mining and land interests in the Birmingham District. Around 1920, his partner, Mr. John A. Rutherford died, and there is correspondence regarding the acquisition of the Rutherford shares of Lehigh Coal, and what they are worth. Apparently the two men owned an interest in the "Gurley Creek Lands" which are understood to include the land shown in green on the map below.
Of interest is the discussion of the value of the lands, and the concern that it will be a long time before they are able to be exploited by mining. This is due to a coal strike and the stated reluctance of the L&N RR in a letter from W. A. Mapother, VP, to be able to construct spur tracks to this property.
Letter
from the L&N, October 22, 1920:
To Priestley Toulmin
President
Lehigh Coal Co.
I
am still of the opinion that the sale of the coal lands should be deferred for
the reason that we are not now prepared to undertake any additional railroad
construction.
W.
L. Mapother,
Vice President [Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company]
In further correspondence regarding the valuation and potential purchase of the Rutherford stock:
Letter to Mr.
F. R. Minrath,
Regarding the
Lehigh property – “The life of Lehigh is at a liberal estimate not over ten
years, with about 500,000 tons of coal to be recovered.
This on a basis of 0.15 per ton profit (a very liberal figure) would
indicate a present value of about $50,000.00 for the whole property, in addition
to which should be added approximately $30,000.00 reserve for working capital
and contingencies brought about by the existing strike.
This would indicated a present value for Mr. Rutherford’s stock of
$40,000 or $160.00 per share. If
this would be satisfactory to the executor and to Mrs. Rutherford, I would be
willing to pay this price for Mr. Rutherford’s stock.
Thus there were issues regarding the expected life and value of the Lehigh Company as well as concerns regarding the potential for the Gurley Creek Land, given the strike and the railroads less than optimistic outlook.