Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-06

lions of years. Their present so-called
owners had 40 part in this creation of
resources and have no real rights to them
beyond present urgent needs.
Let us not forget that these miner al
fuels which we call our own, represent in
concentrated form a storage battery of
the suns heat and light accumulated dur
ing countless ages that passed before the
human race came into existence. Let not
the men of the present generation commit
the objectionable sin of wasting the neces-
sary brthright of the generations yet I'M
born. This nation must have a great
future as well great present
The fuel supply of the country will be
sufficient for both present and future
needs, if we stop their waste and prac-
tice increasing efficiency in their utll1Za-
ton. There can be suggestion looking
to the curtailment of present needs; these
needs will increase in proportion as the ma
ton grows in population and In the extent
and diversity of it's industries And while
the present generation has a right to use
the fuel which 1t actually needs, 1t is
bound by every principle of right and JUS
tice not to waste, but to properly conserve
for their future use the birthright OF the
generation yet unborn.
Amount Consumed.
The people of the United States con-
sumed during the past year about 415,OOoCO0
tons of coal beside large quantities of oil
and gas and wood. The total cost of this
100000. The future growing scarcity of
wood gas and oil and the increasing cost
of mining the coal as the surface beds are
exhausted and the deeper ones must be
reached will naturally increase the aggre-
gate expenditure for fuel even faster than
the tonnage increases; but the welfare of
the nation demands not only that the future
has a coal supply, but that the cost of
this supply be kept as low as possible.
I'VE cannot continue this enormous con-
sumption of our fuel resources and at the
same time perpetuate the supply of cheap
fuels The only solution Of the problem Is
that we must learn to use our fuels more
efficiently. We must stop this enormous
waste.
''The recent investigations conducted by
the geological survey indicate great posi-
bilities in this direction. 1t has been DEM
onstrated that the low-grade Goals, con-
tanning as high as so per cent ash. which,
in our coal mining of the past fifty years
have been left under ground and wasted,
because they could not be burned In the
ordinary furnaces, can now be used ad-
vantageously for power and heating de-
velopment, by means of the gas producer
and gas engine. 1t has also been SHOWN
that with this new form of equipment the
better Goals can hereafter be made to
yield from two to three times the amount of
power that they are now yielding In ord1-
nary steam furnaces. 1t has been demon
strated further that the quality of many of
these dirty, inferior Goals can be improved
by various washing processes.
Study of Conditions.
"a study of coal mining conditions is
demonstrating the fact that in the mining
operations a much larger percentage of
coal can be brought to the surface than
was formerly believed to be practicable.
Further Investigations along these lines in
dictate possibilities in the way of waste pre-
vention, and increasingly efficient use in
connection with the utilization of our fuel
supplies. Upon the progress along these
lines depends the future welfare Of the
whole people Of the country.
In every civilized country the conserva-
ton of fuels and other great resources. or
public utilities, is properly coming to be re-
garded as a national problem, because IN
every country these fuels serve as a basis
of national welfare. The individual citizen
looks to the present. He sees little beyond
his individual interest of today. The ma
ton, while helping the citizen today, must
safeguard the welfare of the citizen of to-
morrow by judicious conservation Of
these resources, which, in reality, belong
not to the Individual but to mankind