Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-01-21


WAS confined almost entirely 10 the water. Dry
land had not yet begun 10 produce IN abund-
ance the higher forms Of living things. There
were spiders, however, aid scorpions, and GEN.
tipedes, and cockroaches in swsrms. There
were also land snails. beetles, locusts and may
flies. Huge reptiles with clumsy feet and
dragging tails prowled about on the vet sands
never efaced by time or the elements, and
which are found today in the layers of the rocks
almost as perfect when they were formed
millions of years ago. But the water teemed with
animal life. On the bottom of the shallow seas
lay shells and corals in such abundance and
variety that from the deposits of their remains
vast beds Of limestone have been formed.
Fishes were numerous. Some of them, belong
ing to species allied to the modern shark had
fin spines foot and 9 half in length. These
spines have been found fossilized. as have also
the scales, teeth and bones. Complets skele-
tons OF fishes which were clad in bony armor
were preserved in the rocks they hardened,
forming fossil specimens which are uneauaied
in beauty and perfection.
LUxURIANcE OF VEGETATION.
The most vivid notion of the luxuriauce Of
the vegetation of the coal forming epoch is OBJ
aimed by observation of the coal deposits
which represent its remains. There are areas
Of small extent in the south of France and in
India where coal seams 200 feet thick have
been found. 1t is seldom, however, that seams
of anthracite exceed twenty feet in thickness
The number of the coal seams indicates the
number OF periods during which the growth
and decay of plants was not interrupted. This
number in the coal beds Of Pennsylvania varies
from ten to thirty. The combined average
thickness of the coal seams of that state runs
from twenty-five feet at Pittsburg to 120 feet
at Pottsville. 1t must be remembered in
cidentally that the coal in each seam is only
from one-ninth to one-sixteenth in bulk Of the
woody fiber from which has haap der;vod
Great Britain has about 1000 miles Of coal
deposits. The combined areas OF coal beds in
the United States amount to about 185, 900
square miles.
COAL IN ENGLAND.
1t is claimed that coal was mined in England
before the Roman invasion by Julius Cesar
The cinder heaps found among ruins of the
time of Roman supremacy in the island appear
to show that coal was largely used by the people
Of that age BY the end Of the thirteenth CEN
| fury bituminous coal was burned to a consider
able extent in London. The oldest coal work.
ings in America are near Richmond, Va. 1t is
supposed that coal was discovered and mined
there as early as $780, Tradition saws that bow
while hunting for crawfish CHANGED upon the
outcrop of a coal bed which crosses the James
river twelve miles above Richmond. Mining
was begun, and by the year IT'S the coal was in
general use in the neighborhood 1t played a
part in the war for independence by helping to
shipped to Philadelphia and New York Dur
ing the late civil war these mines were seized by
the confederate government for the purpose Of
procuring fuel. and they are still largely pro-
ductive. This coal bed has an area Of about
100 square miles and an average thickness of
twenty-fonr feet. 1t is supposed to contain
about $4,000 900 tons yet unmined. There is
reason to believe that the Indians knew some
thing of the uses Of coal
''sToNE COAL"
At the beginning Of the present century
anthracite or ''stone coal, it was called, was
not used at all except by blacksmiths and iron
workers in the districts where it was found. It
was believed that it could not be made to burn
except by an artificial current of mir, such as a
bellows supplied. In 1903 two great boat loads
OF it were hoated down from Mauch Chunk to
Philadelphia. Not lump of it could be sold
because people did not consider it Of any use
| for fuel. The city authorities tried to use it
| Tor steam engine at the water works, but it
would not burn. Finally they gave it up, de-
clared the coal worthless and caused what re-
NAMED of 1t to be broken up and spread in
| stead Of gravel ON the footpaths of the public
grounds. This failure put a stop to the mining
at Mauch Chunk, but it was renewed in 1918 and
In the following year an ark load of the coal
was started down the LIE igh river to Philadel-
phia. by way of the Delaware. Its owners put
up stoves in conspicuous public places in the
cities, built coal fires in them and invited the
people to stop and inspect them. They went to
private houses and prevailed on the inmates to
be allowed to kindle anthracite fires in the
CRATES which had been built for the use Of soft
coal. They even bribed journeymen in black
smiths shops to give their Goals fair trial in
the forges
| LEARNING HOW TO POKE THE FIRE
| The chief difficulty was to teach people
how to ignite the new fuel. Having disabused
them OF the idea that strong artificial air cur
rent was necessary, the next step was to pre-
vent them from disturbing the Goals constan tiv
| by poking and rakng them in order to induce
! them TO take fre-a proceeding which the I'M
initiated seemed to consider Of prime impor-
lance. Among those who bought the Goals was
the firm OF White Hazard. manufacturers of
iron wire. They spent a whole night irving to
make it burn. They poked raked and labored
necessarily, but notwithstanding the most con-
slant manipulation the Goals above the burning
wood would not ignite properly. By morning
the men were disheartened and Disguised, and.
slamming the door of the furnace, they left the
mill and went TO breakfast. It happened that
one of them had left his jacket in the furnace
room and returning for it about half an hour
later he discovered that the furnace door was red
hot. In great surprise he flung the door open
and found the interior glowing with an intense
white heat. Seeking for the cause of this I'M
| expected result the men came to the conclusion
that 1t was due simply TO letting the fire alone,
| tueory tuev aIterWaru aDunQantly proved.
The incident becoming generally known. people
learned more from it about the process of
building hard coal fire than they had learned
from all their previous instruction.
| How Michigan Farmers Use the telegraph.
From the Engineering Magazine.
In the November number Of this magazine
in the electrical department mention is made
of rural farming district in Michigan that
has provided itself with a telegraph line eight
miles in length" There is a line in the north
ern Part of Senawee county which was CON-
menced by connecting two farm houses, and
has been extended from house to house and
village to village until it is now over hundred
miles in length and connects newspaper
| Offices doctors Offices and stores in Adrian,
Tecumseh, Clinton, Franklin. Mason. Ridge
way and Raisin. The farmer keeps up the
line across his farm and owns the in
Btrument One cannot enumerate the
benefits it confers. but one which the
manager, Mr.. Raymond Bowen Of Teeumseh
mentioned to me today is worthy Of special
mention. The election returns came in very
early from towns on the line and were given to
| the agent of the Associated Press in exchange
for their dispatches. which were Immediately
| sent over the wire to each farm house. In re-
| ceiving news the farmer of Senawee county had
| an advantage over the business man of New
| York and Chicago.
II could not sleep last night" said Mr.