The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1846-02-28
L II E N + w Err A
FUEL AND THE READING RAILROAD.
From the New York Morning News.

FUEL AND THE READING RAILROAD.
One OF the greatest works of the present day. is
undoubtedly the Reading Railroad. 1t is a costly
work. IL cost more than the Erie Canal by So,
UUU,UOO, and when we consider It's connections.
we may not rate il second in Importance to that
magnificent work. The Reading Railroad is the
Key to the coal mines of PENNSYLVANIA, which
may be said 10 be the sole resource for the Allan
TIC cities, whence TO derive their fuel Wihout
cheap fuel the growth of cities like New York
would be seriously retarded, and cheap fuel can
not now be Supplied from The once superabundant
forests mat lined our rivers and covered The sides
OF our mountains back to the Allegheny ridge
The lumber trade, both for the supply of our wants
and those Of the West Indies and South Ameri-
ca, has made fearful havoc in the timber. l37.-
OOoOuU ieet OF lumber annually comes down the
Hudson To New York, and an equal quantity goes
annually down the PenObscot and its tributaries To
Bangor; and the enerprsing lumberman travsrses
The country To seek lots of timber land at the head
waters OF even small streams, and his energy and
skill yearly lay bare spots of land, that perhaps
never before felt the genial warmth of the sun. :
IL ls estimated by the most experienced, that for
many years in all the large timber districts, the
consumption has exceeded the growth Nv one
third, and that proportion is annually increasing
The population of the Union. particularly H., Al
lantc cities, has doubled ia few wears. and as q
consequence, their wants of fuel have at least
swollen In the same propoton. This has tended
both to make fuel more scarce and higher in price
while The turf lands which in Europe are 40 great
resource 10 the inhabitants of cities do not exist
IN any great abundance, or scarcely at all. We
nave, however, another and more valuable re.
source IN the coal fields of Pennsylvania The main
heId-ihe Wyoming coal valley in lis whsle ex-
tent ls embracing the Lackawana GO miles Iopq
and five wide, containing 500 square miles or
l92,OUO acres. The several veins of this valley
discovered, are in thickness 70 feet OF coal: a
square yard Of coal is ton. Hence there are 49,
uUO tons per acre, or in the whole field % 24S.
OUu,OOO tons of coal. supply equal 10 | Ots' goo
tons per annum for thousand years The mines
whence the coal for the most part is drs~n. RIM
into the sides of the hills and the loaded cars run
out almost by their own weight at but little ex-
penSe. Sapplng this vast field are SrverNl works
The chief Of which are the Schuykl Csnal. the
Leh'gh. and the Delaware and Hudson These
enjoyed monopoly of the Transportation down To-
1871, and in consequence of that monopoIy. coal
was uniformly very high in New York, seldom
under 81 and frequently Sl4 per ton +; and tn. eff
lect ot that high price was that the CONSUMPTION
ot coal from 1886 To 1912. did not increase at all
In 1912. the Reading RAILROAD came into opera
ton IN direct competition with the SchuyIkilL
Canal, and the effect has been that coal ranges
from so 10 So per ton, and the consumption has
more Than doubled from l84l 10 1886 The fol.
lowing shows the supply.