The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-01-30
HAS COAL TO LAST
FOR 1900 YEARS
United States Deposits Have
Hardly More Than Been
Scratched.
A LARGE
This State Was in 1901 the Ninth in
the List Of All States-Amer-
lea Leads the World in
Area and Value.

st. Louis Republic: Coal is king Of our
Industries, as the coal famine has demon
strated. 1t supplies light and heat, from
the little gas stove in the working girls
attic room to the big furnaces under the
boilers of the big ocean liner. An eminent
authority on coal is Frederick e. Seward.
editor of the Coal Trade Journal. For
thirty years he has been quoted by oper-
ators, miners and the press. Regarding
the coal supply of the future Mr.. Seward
says:
Lord Kelvin says the coal supplies OF
the world will be exhausted in 400 years.
His figures are based on the consumption
of coal in the wasteful fashion of the past;
but, even without reform in this respect,
L estimate that the anthracite coal sup
ply of Pennsylvania alone will last for $50
years, and the bituminous coal of the
country will certainly last ten times as
long, or fifteen centuries.
with the economical methods of using
coal that will be introduced, the life Of
the coal supply can be prolonged at least
an extra century. The bituminous re-
sources Of the country are far beyond
those of the rest of the world. We are
really but scratching the surface of the
coal deposits incur search for fuel, using
up the coal that is found above water
leVel IN large seams ana Wnlcn can De
mined at low cost.
LAS soon as the effects of this coal
strike are over we shall be producing
more fuel than ever, supply coal to for
eign countries whose available supply is
very much less than ours. West Virginia
alone has more bituminous coal than
Great Britain. Then there are the other
southern states yielding coal, Kentucky,
Tennessee and Alabama having vast de-
! nnSitC HAT ha wa rnalu hpan touched #LH
IA great change has come over the coal
outlook. Every railroad in the, country is
now prospecting for new coal mines, not
only to supply their own demands, but to
I ship abroad and supply the trade gen
orally. The total annual output of coal
In the world is figured at about $500 900
J net tons, and the quantity to be credited
to the United States is about 2SS, 90o,0 900 net
tons, while Great Britain is put down for
246, Co., 900 net tons and Germany for about
i65, 100000, with none of the other countries
sending out more than 100000 tons an.
nually.
9TH total American output of anthra-
cite as reported by the mine inspectors
last year, was IS. Sl9,6 26 tons, of which 3d.,
SOS, COL were shipped to market.
1.-THE total bituminous coal distribution
of the United States Is as follows: Ship
ments, 173, 265, 272; local, 1870 92; at mines,
BIAS, O97; coke. q, 634, s51. Pennsylvania an
thracite: Shipments, 90, 1885,; local, 1.0S,-
$50; at mines, 6,449, 649. Grand total net
tons Of 1000 each: Shipments, 1878 ,0SS;
focal, 9,079,042; at mines, e,192, 746; coke,
1884 1851.
"All this immense growth in coal pro-
duction has been the result of developing
the mines during a period Of about fifty
years. I remember that forty years ago
the total coal output Of the country was
only about 20,N0.0O tons annually. Now
1t is nearly 3OO,0 900 tons annually.
"Bituminous coal in the United States
forms the largest tonnage but its produce
ton Is spread over a wider territory than
! the anthracite. West Virginia will soon
reach second place as a coal producing
state, for everywhere there has been a
largely increased production. In all the
mines Of the central states he output
has increased, and even in the far west
the coal trade is expanding. Wyoming.
Montana and Utah, and particularly Col
orado, are increasing their tonnages from
l! year to year. A remarkable feature Of the
trade has been the expansion Of the ex-
port trade
The following figures show the increase
in the production Of bituminous coal alone
from year to year and the gross tonnage