The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1882-02-17
Coal in the United States

The census of 1880 shows that the de
cade past is less remarkable for the in
crease OF the country in population, large
as that has been, than for the growth of
our material development. In mining.
manufacturing. the production of cereals
and cotton, in the oXtentions of our rail
road system and the increased cultivation
OF the soil, our progress during the last
ten years. has been something marvellous.
There is no better illustration of this than
the single case of our coal production, as
shown III the recent bulletins issued by
the Census Office.
The returns are yet incomplete, cover
ing only the region east of the Tooth
meridian. In this region bituminous
coal is obtained in eighteen States and
anthracite in two The total product of
both for 1880 is seventy one million tons
for 1870, which is an increase of 1l6I
per cent Of the anthracite coal GIG
tons were produced in Rhode Island and
the remainder, 2s,640,S19 tons, were
mined in that portion of PENNSYLVANIA
east OF the Susquehanna River. The
production for 1870 was l5,66i,275 tons,
which makes the increase in 1881 S25
per cent. The bltuminous product
shows the much larger increase of 147
per cent, or from 17,l09,000 tons in
1870 to 42,42O,0O0 tons in 1880
The grand total production for 1880
OF seventy-one million tons. is less than
one-half the production of the English
collicries for the same period. and is
about equal to the English production
in 1870. The output in England for
1880 was lGl, 900 of our short tons,
which was 81 tons for each inhabitant,
while this country produced l42 tons
per capita. An important difference is
however, that while our coal supply is
yet scarcely touched, the English pro-
duction has probably reached its great
est development, and more or less appre-
hension is already felt there that their
coal beds are approaching exhaustion
At the rate of increase in the coal pro-
duct of this country in the last decade
we promise soon to overtake that of
England The ratio of increase in the
last ten years was four times that of the
increase in population. The very gen
eral substitution of coal for wood in this
period will account for large portion
of the increase, but the great growth of
our manufacturing industries is the chief
factor in the greatly increased demand
| for coal
The single State of Pennsylvania not
only produces all but an unimportant
fraction of the anthracite coal but three
times as much bituminous coal as any
other single State, Its product for 1880
was eighteen million tons, or more than
was produced in the whole United
States in 1870. The coal product OF
Pennsy lvania, both bituminous and an
thracite, in 1880 is just seven-ninths of
the entire stock of coal produced in the
United States during that year The
second coal State is Illinois, and after il
Ohio and Maryland in order. West
Virginia, Indiana and Iowa each produc-
ed between one and two million tons
and some half dozen other States make
a respectable showing. The immense
coal deposits in West Virginia, Ken
lucky, Tennessee, Alabama and through
out the West, remain almost untouched
"A rich reservoir of infinite power anC
unlimited wealth for future generations
--IreSS.