The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-16
Eiere are szs Mines in the state Whose Yearly output is 1s,OOo,OOO Tons. Ranks Fourth Among the COaI-Pro- adeins states--The Growth of Coke Industry.


 asset is the asset of coal. It is capi- tai of the State which, now seems im- possible of overdrawing. Mankind in Alabama will. century after century, draw out heat and fuel from the inex- haustible stores which have been set aside for Alabama and her people.
 Coal is Alabama's first and greatest mineral source. Her product from the 27s mines within her borders is now greater than she can possibly use Out of the largeness of her own store she sends forth the lining of her hills to give heat and warmth to other States. And more and more each year the other States lean on her for this great help to commerce, to trade and to mankind. In the South she has met and ovemcome the competitor offered her by the Pennsylvania coal fields.
 The mind can hardly grasp the ex- tent of the immense coal deposits on the Alabama hills and in the Alabama valleys. Some figures about the three great coal fields of the States may con- vey faint understanding of their great wealth. These coal fields are Cahaba, the Warrior and the Coosa. Coal ex- perts have figured on these deposits with soma knowledge of what they were about These experts say that In the Warrior Coal field there are 7,s1O square miles of coal with a thickness of over three thousand feet, with many seams of workable coal. These seams range in thickness from a few inches to twelve or fourteen feet These learned experts in the black mineral figure 1t out that there are forty bil- lion tons of coal in this field.
 Now, if that was all the coal Ala n.-A A casion for her to worry over the prob lem of keeping the fire a-going.
 Close by Is the big Cahaba field The Cahaba field is about four hundred Bquare miles in extent. The measures are five thousand feet thick. There are twelve seams of coal In this field, which the coal sharks figure out are thick. They estimate, too, that this Held contains four billion tons.
 The Coosa coal field is almost as rich. This third field contains 343 square miles of coal lands, Its treas ure of coal is estimated at about three hundred millions tons of coal
 Now, either one of the fields would make Alabama a great coal producing State if the development of the field was sufficiently advanced. The three Of them in time, 1t Is estimated, will make Alabama. in coal production. q dangerous rival. of Pennsyivania.
 The dsvelopment of the coal indus try In Alabama has been wonderfully rapid. But as rapid as 1t has been there Is still room for even greater de- Velopment But the recorded figures fn the history of the industry from It's inception are nothing short of as- tonishing. They show that in the year of 1SSU, only 8s0,o00 tons of coal were mined in the State. Now during last year in Alabama, the year of 1905, af- ter e quarter of a century of develop ment the total of mined coal amounted to nearly 12,000,000 tons In the coal section of Alabama they are figuring that this year the total of coal produc- lion will reach 1S,000,0 tons. At any rate the production of coal in Ala bama is steadily on the increase and they are estimating further that, if there should be no labor troubles no financial tightening of money bonds, the total of Alabama coal production will reach in 1907 the fine amount of 16,00O,000 tons.
 Thirteen Coal Counties.
 At present thirteen of Alabama's counties are mining and shipping coal. The fact that there are great coal fields in thirteen Alabama counties show how widespread the deposits are and how lavish providence has been in this great gift. In these thirteen
 
 operation. In recent months several new coal companies have been organ ixed, and their formation presages an even more rapid development of the industry than the fine record of the past twenty-five years can show.
 Jefferson county, of course, Is the great coal producing county of the State. Of the near 12,0oO,Oo0 tons mined last year Jefferson county gave to the world one-half. The county of Walker in coal production ranks sec- ond to the larger county of Jefferson. Both are showing rapid advances in their development of their coal riches.
 Alabama coal has all the foreign market it wants While considerable coal is carried over the sea, the mar ket could be largely increased, if the need of 1t was felt. There has been such a domestic demand for Alabama coal that the mine owners of the State have not yet felt impelled to go search ing for foreign business and that con- siderable foreign business which has come unsought. But thousands of tons of coal from the Alabama mines are sent tc Mobile, Pensacola and New Or leans. From these points the coal, some of 1t at least, finds its way to Vera C.uz, Mexico and many of the Cen tral American countries.
 As the industry grows along its des- tined way, as 1t develops in strength and importance, Alabama coal will be- come known the world over.
 Several years ago D. D. Stone, a well known mining engineer connected with the Southern Railway, issued a com prehensive pamphlet, describing the value and extent of the Warrior coal field of which Birmingham Is the in- dustrial center. Speaking of the great ness that would ultimately accrue to Birmingham from it's proximity to the coal fields Mir. Stone said in this pam phlet:
 ''The city of Birmingham Is the cen- ter of the coal fields of Alabama and is destined, from its geographical po- sition, and splendid railroad facilities, turing cities of the United States. Bir- mingham can produce pig iron cheaper than any city of the world, for here are assembled the coal. iron ore and limestone necessary for its production. Its assured growth will always make a large and constantly increasing mar ket for the coal district of Alabama. The undeveloped coal properties in this district are for sale by the owners in large and small bodies, at exceedingly moderate prices, and one of the inter estinR features of this district Is the number of men who have worked up from small beginnings. The low prices of guch lands the small cost of open ing up mines and the uniformly prof itable market has rendered this pos sible in the past and even the slight advance in the price of such lands which has taken place in the last twelve months has made but little dif- ference in the cost of opening up new ventures in the district"
 In these lines MT. Stone has outlined