The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-08

coal is found in twenty-SiX of them. OF
this number fourteen are entirely underlaid
with coal, six where coal is found in the
largest part and six which contain coal in
small quantities The county that has the
most coal is Knox, which has coal area of
so square miles and the coal beds there
are for the most part workable. At Vim
cennes which is the county seat, the shafts
are sunk to a depth of from $50 to 400 feet
1t is here that the thickest beds in the
State are found, which measure over thir-
ty-two feet in depth. While the coal bed
of Knox county covers the largest area,
Clay county produces the most coal. The
amount that comes from that county Is
twice as large as that from Knox. The
county that has the smallest coal district is
Montgomery, its coal bed covering only
nine square miles and not workable. The
coal area of Indiana has a maximum
length north and south of about 200 miles,
while in width it is about 100 miles. This
coal strip is narrow at the north and
widens at the south end of the State.
SUPPLY OF COAL.
1t is worthy of note just now that scien-
lists are becoming much alarmed at the
prospect of the supply of coal in the earth
being exhausted. Dr. Peter Roberts, au
thor of 1.-The Anthracite Coal Industry"
says that, as all the anthracite coal comes
from one small district in northern Penn
sylvania it will be entirely exhausted in
sixty or seventy years. He further says
that sooner or later the prospect of a coal
famine must be faced. Unless some sub
stitute for coal can be found it is impossi-
BILE TO imagine the great changes that must
take place in our methods of industry and
rapid transit. NJ. SartiauX, chief of ensi-
neers of the Northern Railway OF France,
offers solution of the fuel problem. He
says: In ten years petroleum and alcohol
will take the place of coal. and in this way
all the dangers of a coal famine will be
averted" 1t is said that this condition is
mostly brought about by the present meth
cd of mining, because it is very wastefui-
only one ton out of every three reaches the
consumers, and there were 100000 tons
taken out last year. 1t seems. however.
from all reports. that the present genera
ton need feel no alarm about the giving
out of coal, for even the scientists say that
anthracite coal will last sixty or seventy
years. and il is claimed by Indiana authori-
ties that the coal fields OF this State will
last much longer than that. They further
assert that instead of the improved meth
DDS of mining exhausting the coal supply
they tend TO lengthen the life of the fields
by securing a larger portion of the coal in
a given area and by rendering workable
much coal that is now considered unworl1-
able If however, such a thing as the
changing and exhaustion of competing
fields and the better methods of utilizing
the Indiana coal would greatly increase the
demand. 1t would necessarily tend to
shorten the life of the fields. On the whole.
it seems safe to assume, even with the in
creased demand. that the life of the Indiana
coal fields will cover at least 300 years and
probably longer
w S. Blatchley, state geologist, says
that the last report he prepared and that
was devoted almost exclusively to coal,
was in 1898. This report shows that in 1896
the production OF coal in Indiana was
4.06S. l24 tons, and that the capital invested
was sl.75o,ooo. OF course. since that time