The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1892-06-09
After Coal, What?


IRON the Chicago Tribune.
The worlds supply of coal is being ra.
pidly exhausted. The coal measures Of
England and Wales are SO near the point
OF depletion that it is estimated the diff,
Guilty of obtaining coal will be serious
one before the close of the next century
The known stock IN the United States is
so great, exceeding by several times the
whole of that remaining in Europe, that
the contingency is much farther removed
from us than from the people across the
Atlantic. But even here it will be ONLY
a question of few hundred years if the
rate of consumption should continue to
! increase as it has done recently, For il
| should be remembered that though coal
has accurately been defined as bottled
sunshine" and the sun still blesses us
with his rays the process of coal>naking
! does not appear to be now in progress in
any part of the globe We are continu-
ously drawing upon a fixed capital for
| the payment of current expenses, and
! the time will come when the hoard will
| have vanished cut of reach as we'll as
| out Of sight.
Yet it would not be strange if this mis-
chievous waste, like some other evils. is
found to work its own cure just at the
time when it seems to be so lawless as to
be beyond control We are developing
the applications of steam power, directly
and for the collection of electric force to
an 9ytant mt Iraao, re 4, fo,, x,oo ,c
ago, and every now and then some new
proposal is stated, the first result of
adopting which is an augmentation of
the draft upon natures storehouse of
fuel. But people are now learning to
economic, not in consideration for the
wants OF future generation, but because
it is a matter of dollars and cents to
themselves. The last few years have
brought round a great gain in the etfec-
tiveness of given weight OF fuel.
The principle of down draft has keen
employed to produce more perfect COM
bustion, flue boilers to absorb more he at
than formerly, jacketing to prevent
needless escape of heat before it has been
transformed into power, triple cylinders
to utilize the expansive force of the
steam to the uttermost, and otherwise
improved machinery for reducing the !
loss by friction to q minimum By
combination of these saving methods
and processes man is fast approaching
the chemical limit of power that can be
obtained from q stated weight of fuel,
and perhaps getting ready to realize the
dream of a quarter of century ago,
Which is now Endorsed by Edison as at
least logical, that the energy of coal will
be changed directly into electricity, with
out the wasteful transmutation through
steam, by which over 80 per cent. is ren>i
de?ed ineffective.
The supply of petroleum and natural .
gas forms but q small percentage of the
total stock Of fuel. It bids fair to be ex>
hausted within a few years at the most,
and the available supply of wood for fuel
is steadily diminishing with the disap>
pearance of our forests But the real
utilization of our waterfalls has only Just
begun. The vast power of Niagara, and
the lesser quantities OF force obtainable
from hundreds of minor streams, are be-
ing utilized now and will be distributed
by means Of insulated wires, perhaps
over thousands of square miles, to set in
motion machines big and little for sup
plying the wants of man. Doubtless q
growing scarcity of coal will lead to the
gathering of force from the winds on
10, ~
now spend themselves idly on the shores
OF Islands and continents; and presently
the Ericsson idea of forcing the sunlight
to manifest itself in the shape of horse
power will be reduced to practice.
Still another extension is suggested by
a writer in the Western Christian AGco-
cate, who points out the possibility OF
using the strongest explosives in the
place of coal at sea. Nitro glycerine has
a lifting power 100000 times its own
weight, its minimum power being 5000
times that OF an equal weight of the best
coal. Hence If this monster force can be
harnessed and controlled as thoroughly
and safely as coal and electricity are to-
day single ton OF it will talzo the place
of half the cargo OF solid fuel that is now
requiredto propeI the largest steamers
across the Atlantic. The problem of APP
plying it safely luay be a hard one to
solve; but it is not more so than many
Others which has been wrested with sue
cessfully by the inventive minds of the
present century. That would double the
carrying capacity of our ocean steamers,
and the application of the same force on
land would be the next step, the total
result being q vast saving in the amount
of coal used each year. Taking into ac-
count all these facts it is evidently not
impossible that the worlds supply of
fuel may last many centuries longer than
indicated by connaring the present rate
of consumption with the total supply.
m