The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1881-07-28
OUR NORTHERN COAL FIELDS.
The supply Of Coal From Oregon an 4
Wash la = ton. an Especially from
Pu ct Sound.
lSan Francisco Chronicle. I


In most of the coal producing states
Of the union the area of production
has been ascertaine1 with consider
able accuracy. Thus it is known that
Pennsylvania has coalarea of I2,SO0
square miles, Ohio 1000, Illinois 3D.
600, Iowa 1900, Missouri 2s,0OO, and
Kansas 22,0OO AS far as discovery
has penetrated into the bowels of the
earth, anthracite has been fonnd in an
area of bnt 472 square miles, or 30l ,0,0
acres-all in Pennsylvania. But the
production from these comparatively
limited mines has been far IN excess
of what might be expected In 1870
it was 1860, 600 tons, worth S3S, 1885,
900, and in 1879 it reached the ei,or-
nous quantity of26, AZ, 800 tons, worth
S65, ,OOO,0OO! The bituminous coal
mines of the same state in 1879 yielded
but l4,500,0OO tons. The total yield of
bituminous coal for that year in all
the states and territories was 33, $50, 900
tons, Pennsylvania's share beinga lit
tie over 40 per cent. The total yield
of bituminOus and anthracite coal was
80, 900 tons, Pennsylvania share
being 4O,6t2,000 tons. or nearly 20 per
cent. In 1870 the avemge value of
anthracite at the mine was about 81. 80
and of bituminous Sl.So per ton in
Pennsylvania. At these averages the
value of the total yield of that state in
1879 was about 81 ,500,0O0 That is
nearly Sl,OOO,Om more tlian the best
years crop of the gold and silver
mines of all the United States. tick
plains, without much calculation, the
true secret of the great prosperity of
the Keystone state. The value of this
vast Goa! harvest at the time is but Il
trile of the wealth that results from it
IN the form manufactures, railroads
and canals for its TRANSFORMATION, and
the hundreds of thOuSal dS of labnrerS
it gives employmcnttO \ many ways.
1t is cheap and abundart coal that has
within Il quarter of Il rtsifnry elevated
Philadelphia to the III. chest rank
Y,.ssr,u,- arr, rIrurrr Pftt>s'urg rv4-%-'.--l
Elberfeldt in Germany, the greatest
worker of iron.
These premsings lead to the consid-
Grafton of the coal resources of the Pa
cific Coast, but especially of the Puget
Sound country in Washington Terri
tory and adjacent Oregon. The area
of the coal fields of this coast is not as
vet known; aud the annual production
can only be approXimated from avail
able statistics. 1t is set down for 1879
i'm the american Almanac for 1881 rs
follows:
Tons.
California 600. 900
Oregon ................. ....... ZOo'ooo
Washington Territory .lIO,ooo
.
In 1870 Washington Territory pro-
ducel--al from the Puget Sound re-
gion-only l7.S4 tons of coal, and The
average value or price paid at the
mine was So per ton. Ii was all btu
minous coal, aud therefore the aver
,ige cost per ton was n little over three
and a quarter times as much as the
same article in Pennsylvania. The
been a thousandfold. 1t is not easy
to set limit to future increase in hat
quarter. Within the last twoor three
wears coal has been found in every dis
trict prospected along the western
face of the Cascade range of noun
tains. Some of these discoveries have
been opened Notwithstanding mines'
which require only few mile>-say
1ttecu w IbTtN, utttIui'S W N'-."'
from the Sound ports-of railroad
transportation to enable them to de-
liver coal in any quantity as cheaply
as il can he mined and transported an
equal distance by rail in the State oi
Pennsylvania. When we speak oi
cost ct delivery from the mine td
Sound ports we mean its delivery ON
shipboard; for when the business be-
comes organized this will be the ar
fai,ycment That organization I'M
pile, lines Of steamships for coal, pas
-enger- and general m,rchandise, bn'
chiefly for coal, as that must become
the staple freight, not for this city
| only, bit for the whole Pacihc coal
consuming country.
By such means, with organized cap
ital to back them, 1t Is not eXtrava
CANT tn assume that our northern Goa
fields will be able to supply this city
and its future manufactures with Goa
as cheaply, or nearly so, as Pottsvii''
and Scranton can supply Philadelphia
Ii is not vet certain that anthracite
coal has been found in these new
northern mines. Reports of >uch Ills
coverics have from time {" tinl'
reached rs from the newspapers II
SOM. of the Sound towns, hut the,
need confirmation. As to the bitnmi
nous region, IL j. practically every
where, from the Cascade n"un'ain~t {,
the sea. 1t il n source osfnture wealth
and stable prosperity to this city su'