The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-06-16
COAL PRODUC ION
OF UNITED STATES
Mines More of the Fuel Than Any
Country in the World.
is SHIPPED TO ALL POINTS.
In Time This Country will Be Called
On to Supply an Even Greater Por-
ton Of The Fuel Of the World.
Some Statistics.


atoms from the United States, coupled
with the fact that we became in 1899
the worlds largest producer Of coal,
gives special interest to an elaborate
discussion of the worlds coal product,
| published by the Bureau of Statistics
of the Treasury Department, IN the
| April No. OF the Monthly Summary
| Of Commerce and Finance.
Expectations Of coal from the United
States in the ten months ending with
| April were nearly SO per cent. larger than
| those Of the same months OF the preceding
fiscal year, and 50 per cent. larger than
! those of the corresponding months OF 1e3S,
| while our total production for 1888 was not
| only the largest in our history. but larger
| than that of any other country in the
| world.
TRUEST INDEX.
| For the first time the United States
| figures show a larger production than
! the British figures for the same period
! The significance OF this fact cannot be
| over-eStiuated. Coal is now more than
| ever 1.-The ma te-ial energy of a country,
| the universal aid, the factor in everything
| we do The relative abundance or
| scarcity of coal, therefore, is the truest
index of country's position among its
! industrial rivals. According to recent
information steamers have been chartered
to carry coat from America to ST. Peters
burg and Stockholm, as well as to Italian,
French and German ports. While these
exports n ay be due mainly to the present
abnormal conditions of the British coal
market, there is no doubt that in time
this country will be calltd upon to supply
an even larger part of the coal needed by
foreign Industrial countries which, until
recently, have been drawing upon the
British output. This is the more probable
Of
| coal show g. falling tendency for this
country whereas the opposite holds true
| of European coal-produclng countries.
| RAPIDIIY OF INCREASE.
| The rapidity with which the production
! Of coal has increased may be appreciated
| when we consider the present volume of
| that production, and reflect in how recent
| a time the production formed but a very
| small fraction OF that quantity. In 1886
| the total coal product of the world was
! 664.GO0,000 short tons, or 6aaCo0,OGo metric
| tons. Until late a period as 1873 the
| worlds product had never been half so
| great, being then only 2O2, 100000 metric
| tons, and not until 1868 had the world S
| production been as much as third as
| large as it is at present. In 1864 the
! worlds product was only 114,G00,C00 metric
| tons, or less than % per cent. of that OF
| 1896. The statistics of the worlds pro-
| duction for still earlier periods cannot be
determined WITH any pelelSe u eiSSu-
racy; but, on the basis Of the British sta
| tistics from 1854, and Of estimates for
| earlier periods, and from such statistics
| as are obtainable from France, Germany,
| Belgium and Austria-Hungary, an approx
| inlation may be made to the actual pro-
duction. In 1860 the worlds production
| of coal was about 1ti.O0O,Q90 metric tons,
or less than one-fourth that of 1886, and
! much less than that of either the United
States or the United Kingdom ut present.
Ten years earlier the worlds production
amounted to only about 100000 metric
tons, or about two-ffteenths of the
present worlds production and consider
ably less than the present output OF
PENNSYLVANIA alone. In 1870 the produce
ton was much smaller stil-but about
100000 metric tons, or about one-thir-
teenth of the present output, while during
the three-quarters of a century since 1920,
when the output was about I,GG0,0oo
| metric tons. the production has increased
1850 per cent.
THREE NATIONS.
The production is chiefly in the hands
of three nations-the Americans, the
British and the Germans. During the last
thirty years, and even earlier. the COM
bned output of these three countries has
ICED year for year about 1ive-siNths
of the worlds total output. Possessing
but about 10 per cent. of the worlds pop
cent of the mineral fuel. While the re-
naming so per cent of the worlds inhab-
itants produced only about II per cent
of the coal, and, even If the savage and
serni-barbarouS nations be disregarded, the
immense preponderance Of coal production
in these countries must be conceded To
this group might be added Belgium, which
produces and consumes more coal per
capita than any other country. except the
United Kingdom, but for the fact of its
small populat ton, placing it in the second
rank OF coal-producing countries
While the continued output of these
three countries has kept pace With the
production of the rest Of the world, their
relative position has been materially
altered. In 1865 the United Kingdom pro-
duced over three times as much as either
the United States or Germany, the output
of these countries being approximately
80, Az and 16la per cent. of the worlds
production. respectively. BY 1875 the out
put of the United Kingdom was still con-
siderably greater than the combined out |
put of the United States and Germany,
their proportion of the total being As per |
cent, 20 per cent. and is per cent. respec- |
lively. The next half-decennal period |
witnessed a remarkable increase in the |
American product and corresponding |
relative decrease in that Of Great Britain, !
the respective proportions being Sc, IS and |
tanned in the present decade, and in 1896
the output of the United Kingdom vas {
only 81 per cent, that of the United States |
so per cent. and that of Germany 1872 |
per cent. of the worlds total output
These statistics clearly show that the !
United Kingdom is rapidly losing its for
naer pre-eminence as a coal-producins !
Power, and that, While its production is |
Increasing rapidly, its absolute Increase |
is less than that of the United States, |
and its relative increase considerably less |
than that OF either the United States or |
Germany. In 1855 the production of |
these three countries-the United King
dom. the United States and Germany. in |
the order named-was 115.3sto00. 81, 60U,00o
and sc. 200 600 net tons; in 1897 their output |
was 226, 400 eco. 200 200 600. and 1a2, 100 coo net
tons, respectively. The absolute increase
in the British production was 10000 600 !
as compared with 96.5Go, 600 for Germany
and 16S.eOo.0H0 net tons for the United /
States. The proportional increase during
these three decades usss-1Ss7) was ac.a
per cent for the United Kingdom. as com
pared with 1861 per cent. for Germany,