The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-08
TOO MUCH WASTE
 OF RESOURCES
CONTINUED FROM PAGE l.,


 hausted are exhausted permanently No better illustration of this fact can be found than is seen in the deserted mining camps, deserted after the mines have been exhausted. In connection with metallurgical processes there is often a waste of materials, which also prove injurious, such as the large quan- titles of sulphur and arsenic vapors that are turned loose from the clfm- neys of the modern smelters. This waste is preventable and should be prevented, for the double reason that these materials have a commercial and economic value, and they are destruc- tive of adjacent vegetation. This de- struction of vegetation allows the rains to evade the bare land surfaces and de- posit the transported soil into the ad- jacent stream.
 Waste of Minerals.
 '.The wastes in metal mining and treat ment of gold, silver,- copper, lead, zinc, iron and other metallic substances. under old time practices. was frequently as high as from 20 to 50 per cent; but the modern mining, milling and smelting processes have, of late, been developed along the lines of increased efficiency. Under these more modern practices. waste is now being reduced to from to usually
  and metallurgy is also developing pro- cesses for the treatment of low grade ores which formerly were left in the mines or on the dump. or were used in the construction of walls or public roads, just as they have developed processes for the profitable re-treatment of the. enor- nous piles of tailings (refuse), accumu- lated under cruder methods of treatment practiced only a few years since. In the mining and treatment of some of these metalferous ores there is still opportunity for decided improvement along these lines
 Tn the mining and utilization of mis- cellaneous minerals, existing practice is great improvement over that of the recent past, and the future is full of promise Thus, in the utilization of the mica deposits, formerly only cut sizes of mica were used; now the smaller scales are being collected, ground and used for number of purposes. The former waste In the quarry Is now being largely used for macadamizing public highways, for mixing with cement and sand in the construction of concrete buildings. or for use in variety of other ways. The waste piles about some of the coal mines, and other mines of the past, are being taken back into the mines, and new waste materials are be- ing retained in the mines for the buld- ing of supporting pillars, and in filling space otherwise left open through the extraction of the mineral deposits, thus greatly diminishing the need for timber and permitting a much larger extraction of valuable material from the mines. Waste in the utilization of fuels is a. problem that in an especial manner con- cerns the general public, for the reason that the fuel supplies are coming to be regarded, like the water and forests. as public utilities. They furnish our heat. light and power; they serve as the basis of industry, and of transportation: and are therefore, absolutely necessary to the welfare of the nation.
 But notwithstanding their vast impor tance it is in the mining and utilization or these fuel resources that We practice the greatest waste.
 Persons now living can recall when the great gas wells were seemingly inex haustible fin Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. In many of these fields this gas supply was wasted in A manner well-nigh criminal, and the ex- haustion has been so complete that there is no ground for believing that other supplies of gas will be discovered in many of these special regions.
 Petroleum in the past has. in like bctii WdSltu, DOtn Tn enormous overfiows and the burning of material In the early days of petroleum there was also an enormous waste through the failure to save the gasoline and other bi-products, which now have great value. Here. however as in the case of the metals, the modern improved prac tice Is doing much to lessen this enor nous waste. This problem is one of spe-. cfai importance to the Pacific coast states owing to the absence of adequate coal supplies.
 Coal Is now the worlds great fue1 Wood has been used extensively in the past, especially for domestic purposes Gas and petroleum continue to have an extensive local use. and in power and light developments water power will play an important part in many portions of the country. But the worlds great cen ters and industries of today, and. as far we know. of the future. must look to coal as their source of heat power and light.
 Enormous Coal Waste.
 Notwithstanding the recognized impor- tance of coal. It's mining and use are sub jected to enormous waste. In the min ing operations at the present time nearly
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