The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-02-11

| BELIEVE that the government of the
United States should at once possess.
itself of the entire anthracite field
of Pennsylvania and retain 1t for pur-
poses of national defense. And If, through
accidental discovery other deposits of
this precious mineral are developed, they
should be instantly appropriated by the
national government and reserved for its
own use Being a sailor, of course, I
mean naval uses, first of all
The proposition is I know startling
but believe its soundness can be demon
strated.
No other maritime nation possesses a
naval weapon of such tremendous power
as America in its anthracite. Now and
again comes the announcement from
some enthusiastic geologist that rich de-
| posits of this coal have been discovered
| in various foreign lands but, somehow,
these promises never materialize, and the
| fact remains that America alone pos
| sesses hard coal in workable locations
| The quantity is not infinite, 1t is true;
| and the fact is the basis of this argu-
| mentment; but, practically. America alone
produces anthracite, and the nation
should realize the value of that posses
sion as naval weapon beyond the reach
| of any other sea power.
But. in my opinion. anthracite is the
ideal fuel for America naval purposes
A paramount consideration in naval war
fare is invisbility. Strateglcally, this is
one Of the greatest factors, either for
offense or defense. The ability to creep
close upon an enemys ship without de-
lection is enormous advantage in the
attack; and it goes without saying that
the possibility of accomplishing a safe
retreat before superior naval force, or
of slipping undiscovered through an enc
my's line of battle, is not to be disre-
garded.
Anthracite helps to these ends, and to
| others equally desirable. 1t makes no
smoke; and smoke is the telltale signal
which betrays the war ship. Did you
ever sit ON tho deck of a liner, or per-
haps on one of the ocean piers of At
| lantic City, and watch a merchantmen
creep along many miles away-even be-
| low the Northumberland by its line of
smoke? That vessel was going easily.
trying to burn her coal economically
which means, to consume much as
possible of the carbon in her coal, in
stead of sending it up through her
| smokestacks.
When Admiral Dewey made his en-
trance into Manila Bay on that memoir
able first of May. disaster nearly fol-
lowed the use of soft coal Wisely he
chose the night for his enterprise so
as to disguise his approach and conceal
the dense clouds of black smoke emitted
/ Nv Sbf Vat Of
the tunnels of the Mccullough urged as
the little cutter was to keep up with
the leaders, spouted blasts of flame that
,lrew upon her the fire of the great
| guns on Corregldor Island, at the mouth
of the bay. Perhaps it was a fortunate
disposition that she was at the end of
| the fleet, and that all of the fighting
ships had safely passed beyond range of
the forts before the Mccullough hung
this warning in the skies
No; let us turn again to our own an
| thraeite and let us keep 1t for own
navy. every ton of It. Pile it up in our
| naval stations at home; make great stores
! of 1t at the coaling stations we now
! have abroad, and acquire more of these
| station from friendly nations at con-
venient points In foreign lands. In a way,
1t will be safely stored; for though we
may be deprived of 1t, the ships of no
other maritime power can use 1t, by rea-
son of the construction of their boiler
furnaces, while our own ships may use
| their btuminous, in case of need, by
few simple mechanical changes in the
CRATE bars.
| 1t will be costly, of course, but it Will
pay to keep our anthracite for our own
| navy. The estimates of the geological
| survey place the amount of anthracite
"in sight in America at great figures
no less than 100000 tons four years
ago, but of this only 6,450.00O tons is
minable. The census reports say that
this will be exhausted by domestic uses
in about fifty years. The consumption
In 1905 was 50 1888 152 tons and was yearly
| increasing.
Suppose we should stop this industrial
and domestic consumption, and reserve
/, the supply which can never be replen-
| ished; the American navy would be coal
ed for a long time Last year the equip
ment bureau bought $4,000 tons of coal,
and about $4,000 tons were used in the
winter maneuvers of the Atlantic fleet
In the Caribbean Sea. With the steady
! annual growth of the navy, that must
surely proceed if America is to retain her
place among the world powers. the coal
consumption of the ships must necessarily
| increase. To be efficient seamen must
be trained and that means that ships
must be kept in commission and must
| burn much coal.
About slS0o0.000 would represent, at
| present values, the available anthracite
| deposits which the United States govern
! ment should acquire to possess the entire
| store of this fuel. The figures are start
| ling; but remember that this vast sum
| Is not necessarily to be disbursed at once.
| In fact. it may be spent in the course of
eenturies-only, indeed, as the fuel Is