The Red Cloud chief., 1888-09-07
THE BLACK DIAMOND.


1no Almost IncOmpfehenSsbl0 Mo Suitud
Of the Worlds Coal Industry.
The total production in the world
. put ut APO. OOO. 900 tons. of which Grea
Britain does 100. 600. 900. the Unite
States 12O, OOO.O 600. and Germany IS,
100000 of tons. The production in tn
United States is divided between thirty
one States and Territories. the larges,
of course. being Pennsylvania. whicl
last year gave us 100000 of anthra
cite. and 30. 900. 900 of bituminOus. Ii
money value the output in the Unite,
States is safely $4,000. 900 in tn
markets where used. This is greate
than the value of the gold silver. cot
ton. and petroleum produced in Ou1
country. The first mention of the dis
cOvery OF coal in the United States is BY
Hennepin. who mentions finding it il
Illinois when on his travels from tn.
great lakes to the Mississippi. ut o.
near the place nov known as Ottawa
Father La Sale does not take much
stock in many of the reports of Hen.
nepin as put down in his discoveries
but the result has shown that in this
instance, ut least. the truth was record.
ed. 1t is is put down as a cole" mine.
Colonel William Byrd. in his history o.
Virginia. tells of its discovery in that
State in the year 1901. being found in
what is known as the Richmond basin,
although it was not until 1880 that il
was worked for sale and use. Anthra-
cite was used during the revolutionary
war at Carlisle. 1t was transported
from Susquehanna. from the vicinity OF
Wilkesbarre. in flat boats. As a COM
mercial venture. however. it was not OF
any moment until 1920. when the first
coal was sent by the Lehigh canal. in
1925 by the %Schuylkill canal. and in
1929 by the Delaware and Hudson
canal.
1t is only within a few weeks that the
semi-centennial of ocean steam naviga-
ton has been held. In 1888 the steamer
Sirius. of 700 tons register. 1910 tons
burden. arrived at New York. 1t took
her fourteen days. and she used coo
tons to make the voyage. Now we
have the Etrur;a. with a burden OF
7.7lS tons and using 1000 tons and
making the trip in six days. 1t is
stated that the exports from Great Brit.
ain for the use of foreign steamers Is
1900. 900 o n annually. At New York
alone the ocean steamers take on 1885,
OGO tons. while if We took into consider.
alton the vessels on the rivers. the in
land lakes. and the coast. we might
make the sum total 10000. 900 tons.
The railway companies of the United
States furnish the next largest con-
sumner. 1t is stated that $4,000. 900 of
tons are used annually by the railways
OF the country. Iron may be set
down as the next largest 1t
is safe 20 say that 1900. 900 of tons
were used in making pig-irOn in the
United States last year. The prOduc-
ton OF coke in the United States is set
down at 1900. 900 of tons for last wear,
and this would represent $4,000. 900 OF
coal. Gas-making in the United States
is another large consumer and might be
put down for 5000. 600 of tons. Now,
the remainder can be credited to what
We call domestic consumption. and
from careful estimates and statistics |
which have been gathered it is seen
that two tons per annum per inhab-
liant is about the average cOnsump-
tiOn. particularly in the larger cities.
What is a million OF tons? Did you
stop to consider what is meant by
that phrase? Just fancy. if you can
grasp the idea. that last year we mined
10. ZOO. 900 of tons in the United States
This is a large tonnage. and
you hardly know what to make of it.
One million of tons would represent
. string of gOndOla cars. twenty-five
each. forty in "a train. and a
thousand of such trains. They would
acrOss this continent running
only a mile apart. 1t is. no doubt.
difficult to grasp the idea of this
hhu- AAiACu AsU tlIIlcS. II you
can do SO then you have some idea of
extent and magnitude of our fuel
in the United States.
What is it worth? We can best answer
this question by giving the value at
he initial point OF production. rs the
price varies with the distance from the
mines. Taking the / 1000. 900 tons Of
anthracite coal produced last year. at
\ value of $3.50 a ton. would be a fair
basis. and the So, 900. 900 of bituminous
at $l.25 per tor. 1t takes an army Of
$4,000 persons merely to produce and
prepare this commodity for the mar
ket. to say nothing of those who are
engaged in the traffic after it has beea
produced along railways, at shipping
in the yards. etc. 1t is safe to
'ay that 80 per cent. Of the selling
price at wholesale is made up of wages
)aid. The main source OF supply Of
lard coal is found in five counties in
he State of Pennsylvania. there being
base in three other counties
# the same State. The general area
If country in which this fuel is found .