The semi-weekly messenger., 1900-11-09
INSTRUCTIVE FACTS AS TO COAL.

Whether the coal deposits in Great
Britain will last for centuries to come
may possibly be doubtful. Fears the
some times expressed at that result.
From 1870 to 1878. the production of coal
grew So per cent. That is to say it
increased from IL, ,200, 900 tons to 205,-
100000 tons. Germany increased from
"a, 500, 900 tons to sc, 200, 900, or 176 per
cent. France increased 12S, per cent,
Belgium 81 per cent. The United States
in 1870 produced %, 600, 900 tons. In 1898
they had rushed up to 21S,O00, 600 lead
ing even the United kingdom in tons.
Their percentage of increase was 629.
A paper in the New York Forum says,
Of the coal product:
American coal is so abundant that
the mines are as yet shallow and easily
worked. European mines, on the other
hand, are approaching the limit of
profitable working. This raises the
question of the high cost of deep min
ing. The availability of coal is closely
related to the depth at which it is min
ed. When the shafts so below the wa
ter line, and especially as they descend
to the lower levels, pumping becomes
coal increases with the depth of the
shaft. Hosting apparatus for men and
materials must be erected; and, as the
shaft goes deeper, the expense of hoist
ing is increased, and the amount of
coal raised in a given time by a given
amount of power, is diminished. At
greater depths, the rocks become hard
er and the veins more irregular, and
more timber must be put in to sustain
the greater pressure"
1t enters into a comparison of depths,
cost, &c. Pennsylvania produces one
third of the coal supply of this country.
The conditions as to cost are much in
favor of this country. The following
shows that miners work far below the
earth's service even in the most favor
able conditions:
"Out of the nineteen Pennsylvania
mines thus circumstanced the average
depth was only 437 1-3 feet. Other
states show the same thing. Thus, in
Alabama, out of sixteen mines report
ing, six extended below the water line,
their average depth being 16S feet. In
West Virginia four mines out of twen-
ty-nine reached the water line. In the
flat country Of the Mississippi Valley
the proportion of deep mines is higher,
but their depth is not great For ex-
ample, Illinois reported only three
mines over 600 feet in depth, and only
eight out of the forty mines that re-
ported averaged over 400 feet in depth"
At present, and perhaps for many
years to come deep mining will not be
necessary in our country. The coal
seams too are much thicker than those
of England or of Europe. The super
ficial coal area is greater too than
that of Europe. The cost of securing
much lower is the cost of production
in this country to that of Europe, the
Americans can ship coal and make by
it. The Forum says:
I'm 1899, according to the report of
the London Board of Trade, the mine
price of coal in England was $1.5S, in
France $2.25, in Germany $1.S5 in Bel
gium $2.18, and in the United States
$1.10. Here is a margin of fifty cents
to one dollar per ton in favor of the
United States, and that margin shows
no sign of diminishing, rather tending
to increase. The coal mines
of Europe are sunk three thousand
feet deep; coal is still being Quarried on
the banks of the Ohio; and the mines
of Europe are nearing the limit of COM
mercial possibility. The manufactur-
ing supremacy of the Old World is
passing to the New. Coal is King, and
his throne is fixed forever in the United
States
If this view is correct the -~'on of
coal should never get so high here as
to be a great burden. 1t would not
be if men had consciences and there
was not a great high tariff tax to make
a trust