St. Mary's beacon., 1858-09-02
The Coal we Burn.

Thee l. imported into the port of Boston
aboutha million tons Of coal per year, for
the congnnption of fdwelling-houses, stores and
mannf1 1ctcries OF this quantity about six
seyentksis b anthaFcite or hard coal, from PENN
syiyar;iR and the balance Is bitnn.;sOus 1oai,7
1clir ggsssana iEova Scotia. FOR The purpose
of heating apartments the anthracite is used
almost exclusively. on account of its greater
cleanliness and economy; and where proper
means are used to prevent the noxiouS gas from
mingling with the air of the room, and due
supply of moisture ensured by artificial means,
the anthracite furnishes very agreeable and
wholesome heat.
OF the prominent varieties Of this coal.
known as rcd ash and white ash, the former
is considered the best adapted for open COM
bustion. it being softer and more intiamahle.
and the better for burning in close furnaces,
where steady and powerful draft is practical
bic, and intense heat is desirable. The white
ash does not melt and run together, forming
clinkers, and choking tie draft, so readily as
the other variety. As to the economy OF OK
pense, tie red is held to hc preferable TO the
white. Very carefully conducted experiments
of burning the two kinds in open CRATES show
that the red is one sixth mere productive of
Of heat than the white, or in other words. that
much heat as thrty-six pounds Of the latter.
Consequently red ash is rs cheap at six dollars
per ton as white ash is at FIVE dollars.
All coal, whether hard or soft. anthracite or
huumnous, is held hy mincralogistS and gcolo-
giSts to have common vegetable origin. and
to present the different appearances which we
notice III consequence OF having been subjected
to greater or less suhterranean pressure and
! 10, Il IL L.,
vegetable dcposites Of which coal has been
formed have been changed into coal in the 10
calitics where they grew, and have not been
previously washed by floods into vast hollows;
contrary to the opinions formerly held by
naturalists, who heSi:ated TO admit the posi-
bllity Of such an almost infinite vegetable
growth as the former hypothesis would IMPLY.
The enormous eras of time which must have
been occupied in the growth and decay of the
measureless mass of vegetable matter necessary
to form the coal deposits of the globe, can
scarcely be conceived by man, and the very
attempt is appalling to the human mind. Is
the atheist. in view of such revelations of end
less creatlYe Dove, still prepared to deny the
eo,n Sa osss No.: y2f y2Ah Ah ffaitc e SDs''F"
Coal 1Wa con r.Hativcly recent discovery in
the United States, while it has been in use i'll
ever the 81 lIlc IIlIl-
tecnth century. The first anthracite was
brought to Philadelphia from Pottsvile, Pa,
in the year 1912, but merely for the purpose
Of experiment The use Of coal as fuel docs
not date back more than thirty-five wears The
existence Of hituminous coal on this continent
was known to the French missionaries, Father
Henepin and others, who explored the western
country in the seventecth century The coal
Of Nova Scotia has been an article Of commerce
for only about sixty years Very many Of our
readers can remember when anthracite was
first introduced amongst us as an article of fu-
el. some thirty years ago and people looked
with incredulItv upon the apparently prepos-
| terous attempt to burn the black, shiny rocks
of Lchigh which were dumped down before
the doors of adventurous purchasers.
! 1t was no uncommon thing in those days to
see heaps Of the half burned coal thrown out
in the waste places, in token that the ''women
| folks" could do nothing with the stuff, and
had rejected the new fuel in despair. All that
Is now changed. The Improvements in stoves,
CRATES, ranges, and furnaces, have been such
! that the anthracite is burned up all too fast
| and our good housewives would as soon think
of casting away bushcl Of Shenang0 potatoes
! because they could not boil them, as to throw
aside hod Of coal because it would not burn
! The principal known anthracite coal fields
of the country are in Pennsylvania, on the
eastern slope Of the Ailcghany mountain
! range, and with the exception of three or -four
| detached basins or patches Of very limited ex
tent, the Keystone State is the exclusive de
pository of anthracite upon this continent
! This region Of the State comprises an area o
about four hundred square miles. or over hal
a million of acres. 1t is penetrated in every
direction by navigable rivers, canals and rail
roads, and the amount Of capital invested il
mining works and means Of transportation
exceed fifty millions Of dollars.
The present annual production Of this Goa
region is about seven millions Of tons, an,
it is increasing at about the rate of fifteen pc
cert. every year. Since the first workings c
the mines, it is estimated that the agcreyat
product has been upwards OF seventy million
OF tons. The ratio of increase in annual pro
luction that it has obtained for the last fev
wears. would give for the year 1870, the start
ling product of forty-five millions of tons
worth one hundred and eighty millions q
dollars. The question naturally arises whetl
er the supply would lie equal TO such dc
mand, aud the answer is that it would be am
ple for that, or even one ten times AS great
The quantity of coal in the anthracite cna
demands for twenty-five hundred wears I
come In short, il is iuexhausrablc
Immense as the anthracite deposit may ap
pear, it sinks into absolute insignificance wher
contrasled with the bitumin0us coal fields {
our country. These extend over a great!
lager area, even i'll the State Of PENNSYLVANIA
than the anthracite regions; co7ering there
workable AREA Of some ten thousand squar
miles The great bituminous coal fields Of N
United States traverse thirteen Of-the principn
States OF the Union, from Georgia. on the south
east, to Iowa oD the northwest. and cover
workable area of at least hundred thousan
square miles in the aggregate This fiell
already worked to great extent in several
the Middle and Western States, but can neve
be exhausted to the end of time Our reader
may therefore dismiss all apprehcnsi ons Of tn
counsry's running short Of fuel while II
sun shines or water runs.