The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1903-01-31
WORLDS FUEL SUPPLY.
COAL RESOURCES EERE AND IN
OTHER COUNTRIES.

Use OF Feat as uel IN the 1u'u'o'
THE worlds fuel supply" SAID al
officers of the Bureau of American Ee-
publics, has recently been made the
subject Of al interesting study by Or.
Ferdinand Fischer of Guttengen, Ger
many, who has collected with much
care all the available data as to the
coal resources of the globe. His find
ings are made of peculiar value by the
recent anthracite strike here, with its
focusing of American attention
ION fuel
1t is a curious commentary, that
while China, SO far as is known, is
richer in coal than any other country
in the world, almost none of IL is yet
available for steam power. 1t is large
ly used by the Chinese, but mainly in
the regions where it is mined. The
land routes are so poor that it does
not pay to haul coal more than %
distance of water carriage, 1.-The area
of the distribution of the output is
confined to the immediate neighbor-
hood Steamships at Shanghai are to-
day filling their bunkers with coal
brought from Europe, because it IS
cheaper than coal extensively brought
from Chinese mines IN the interior.
In DR.. Fischcr's opinion, Germany
has a coal supply that will meet the
needs of that country for about 1890
years. DR.. Fischer also reaches the
conclusion that probably within the
next so years, and certainly within this
century, Great Britain, at the present
rate of consumption, will exhaust her
coal resources. She certainly cannot
go on supplying the larger-part Of the
worlds export. The total production
of coal in Great Britain III 1901
amounted to 213,O46,945 gross. tons,
against 225, 181, 300 tons in 1900. Japan
has large coal resources, particularly
in the southern province Of Kf,shiu.
Borneo is rich in coal formations, as
is ais New South Wales, fact that
is enabling Sydney to forge ahead of
the other Australian cities in industri-
al development. Africa and South
America are poorer in coal than any
of the other continents, but. the devel-
opment of coal mines in South Africa
bids fair to supply the industrial needs
of the country.
According to returns to the United
States Geological Survey from produce
ers representing fully OF percent of the
entire coal output of the United States,
the production of 1901 amounted to
292240,758 short tons, valued at $685.
1881. AS compared with 1900, when
the output amounted to 269,s21,SN
short tons, worth $3O6,S91, 364, this rel.;
resents an increase of percent in
quantity, and 1876 percent in value.
The production of Pennsylvania an
thracite, showed phenomenal increase
from 51,121, 1853 long tons in 1900 to
60,242, $50 long tdns.in 1901 This rep
resented gain Of u IL percent, the
largest percentage of gain made Ey the
anthracite trade in 20 years. Part of
this increase was due to the strike in
1900, which reduced the output that
yCdi ny OSSI H,CuU,upO lONS, tOuS. ~
increase in the value of the anthracite
product is still more striking. the
amount received at the mines last year
showing a gain OF more than 31-per-
cent over that Of 1900. A period of
prosperity enabled consumers general
ly to pay. higher prices for their fuel,
and railroad monopoly made them do
SO. -.
The production of bitumincus coal,
ignite, camel coal, ETC., in the United
States increased from 2,513,Sle short
tons in 1900 to 24,769, c91 short tons in
1901. indicating a gain of about FER
cent. The value of this product
amounted to s2s6,3O9, 81. as compared
with 1921, 1888 IN 1900, an increase
of s15,11o,29S. or little less than
percent So
The coal production Of the, United
States last year was nearly 20 percent
more than Great Britafn's; nearly so
percent larger than Germary's; nearly
seven times. that OF Austria Hungary,
and more than eight times that Of:
France, England, however, continues
to export more coal than all other
countries. 1t supplies far more coal
ing stations .thah any other country.
The business of selling coal abroad
Is usually very profitable, and one rea-
son why England. surpasses all COM
petitcrs in this line is because her coal
is so near the sea that She is able to
ship it less extensively than any other
exporting nation. Owing to the more
extensive use of coal-mining me chin
cry, much of the united States coal
at the pit mouth does not cost as much
as British coal when raised to the sur !.
face, but by the time it Is shipped on !.
the ocean it usually costs more than !
British coal. England has special adj 4
vantages for the export coal trade
and she improves them to the utmost, 4
in spite of the fact that economists
assert that the present century will sec
the end Of her coal. resources.
A comparison of the coal RESOURCES
Of Great Britain and the United States
was recently made by A. S. e. Acker-
mann, who shows that the area CT coal
fields in the United States is about
225.0o0 square miles, as compared witt,
300 square miles in the United King
1om. ~ Il
When 1t comes to actual mining op-y