Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1872-03-09
Coal In China.

I|read an intsresting s PAIR isppnzthe
.sutS ectsbesore tho American ssocia-
tipn, finn a. hstfsct Of vhch- We
aacte briefly inarefesercs tocoslss.
The Chinese do not mine fef cosl
below the water line, having no prop
i.er pumping apparatus. The best coal
in the kingdom remains yet undistur-
bed but Professor Bickmore doubts
if it will ever be found equal in qual-
ity to the coal OF England or Aneri-
i.ea,-a-Cosl was mined in the mountains
west,of Pekin six centuries ago. before
it's properties were known to Europe
an countries. and was found in COM
mon usein .Pekin by. Marco Polo, 8 in
the year 1890 There is an impor-
tant mine at Nun ti-kau, which Pro
fessor Bickmore visited. The coal Is
carried in sacks OF, two bushels each
to Pekin on camels and donkeys,---
An incline shaft has been sunk to a
very great depth below the surface Of
the earth, following The drift of the
coal, up which the coal is brought f, on
sleds, by man-power, one Ghiuaman
for each sled. the capacity Of which
is one bushel and a half. No machin-
cry Of any kind is in USE. No artih-
cial means ofventilation are employed.
BY reason Of the fact that the Chinese
do not go below the water line hre7
damp is almost unknown. In the
north of China coal is ground to q
dust and mixed with clay, that it
may burn more slowly. The quantity
Of coal in China is imnlence. There
are large mines in Manchuria, and in
the mountains west of the Gulf of Lii
entang, in the province IF shensi, and
along the Yangta South Of the Ne
ling mountains the quality is inferior
but everywhere the supply lis mex
haustible, Petroleum also was found
160 years ago in the province Of Shen7
ST. Du Halde, in his work ON China
compiled from the diaries Of Jesuit
priests as early az l72s5, isaysi ltIts
mountains distil a bituninous liquor,
which they call oil Of stone, and use
for lamps ..:. ...g-,.h - -...u
The RICH AND THE Poor. What
is wealth ? Wealth is. whatever men
can realize from Nature for their sus5
tenance and enjoyment, Labor. is
what realizes it. Prudence saves
| from i, and the savings become CAPT
tai ; which he ps to extend and melti-
ply the operations Of labor, and thus
creates more capital. The wealthy
are composed Of those Who have inher7
tied PROPERTY from others, those who
have acquired it accidentally and
those who have realized it for them
selves. The poor, in like manner. are
composed ofthose who have inherited
poverty from Others those who have
become poor through accident, and
those who have brought poverty upon
themselves. The most familiar mode
of producing poverty is by idleness.
A man will not work he realizes no
wealth he is Of course poor. Or he
squanders in some absurd manner, the
earnings which he does realize; AMI
thus remains equally poor as if he did
not work. The poverty arising from
idleness Will only be durable, as it has
ever been by industry. That which
comes from wastefulness will only be
cured by economy.
The gold fever seems to have bro
ken out with great virulence in Aus
tralia during the past autumn and
present winter. Late letters from
Melbourne, state that the colony OF
Victoria is passing through one Of
the most extraordinary fevers OF min
ing speculation that it has ever known
Thousands are ilocking to the mines
hotels being unable to accommodate
anything like the number which needs
lodging. Shares in different mines
are disposed OF at enormous prices
and everybody is in state of wonder
full excitement. The cause of this out.
burst Of enterprise in the twentieth
year Of the greatest Australian gold
field is to be found in the fact tina,
contrary to the opinion of Sir Roder-
lex Murchison and other eminent g.
ologsts, the reefs or deposits of gold
instead OF running out at depth Of
one hundred feet, are found to be ex.
cesdingly rich at depths exceeding
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