The daily critic., 1890-06-14
COAL FIELDS.
where Europe's supply of the Mineral
is to Come From.

IL 70 Come From.
MON tie Contemporary Rsrjo7.
The value Of Westphalion. Belgian
and French coal fields is very great.
The Wcstphalian field is 1918 feet
thick, with III seams, yielding 20l feet
Of workable coal. That Of Liege Is
1900 feet. with 50 seams and about 212
feet Of workable coal That Of Mons
0,400. with 10 seams and $50 feet of
valuable coal. In Som ersetshirc the
coal measures are 8, 400 feet thick, with
% seams, yielding 0S feet Of workable
coal, and in South Wales. LOO feet,
with ~ seams and 100 feet Of available
coal. These coal fields may reasonably
be taken 20 indicate the value of those
which await the explorer In Southern
ENGLAND.
Are they, however, Il may be asked,
within the depths at which mining can
be carried on AZ profit They occur at
Dover az ,20i feet from the surface,
and az Calais at 1,10i, and further TO
10 the west, between Dover aud Lon
don, may be expected 30 be nc the same
depth as the Old Red Sandstone under
London. or at about 100 feet This
depth Is well within the limits Of prlc-
IDEAL mining. Most Of the important
coal pits In this country are worked at a
much greater depth than this, and range
10 over S., 500 feet.
In Belgium one pit at Chartered Is
worked TO n depth Of SAFE feet Year
by year, as the means of ventilation are
improved, they are being pushed
deeper The coal commissioner Ak the
limit az 1900 feet because the tenn
pCrature Of the rock at that depth Is
about 0S degrees, or blood heat, at
which work becomes 30 difficult as to
be almost impossible. The temperature,
however, of the air In the workings can
be regulated by the expansion OF com
pressed air, which, at the point Of es-
cape, lowers the surrounding afr TO
freezing point With this system Of
ventilation the only limit to depth Is
that Of expense.
From these considerations II Il OBJ
vious that a large addition 10 the sup
ply OF coal may reasonably be expected
from Southern England.
The discovery OF these hidden coal
fields Is a question OF national import
ance, we'll worthy Of the attention OF
Parliament IL Is closely connected
with the question OF royalties, which Is
now being considered by a royal com
mission. As the law stands at present
If the search for coal be successful, the
neighborlng landowners, who may or
may not have contributed to the expert
ment, are masters of the situation, be-
cause they can also use the knowledge,
obtained by a successful venture, TO
guide them TO sink pits Of their own
without any acknowledgment 10 those
who have paid for the venture.
This serious difficulty In the way Of
developing the coal fields may, In my
opinion, be met without interference
with the law Of private property by a
small royalty being paid to the original
adventures on all coal raised within a
certain specified distance of the sue
cessful boring and for a specified term
Of years. or, on the other hand, the
Government might itself take the ne
cgssaTy exploration In hand, and repay
itself by a charge levied on the coal
brought 10 the surface. Or, lastly, the
land owners In a given district might
band together 10 have the experiment
carried out al their own expense.
As Usual, JohBnie Puts ais Foot Ia Il.