Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-26
COAL PRODUCTION
IN GOLDEN STATE
REPORT OF E. w. PARKER, FUEL
EXPERT
California Coal Is Lignitic or SUBJ
5ltuminous in Quality-Coal
Found as Early as
1861

The United States geological survey,
through E. w. Parker, field expert. re-
ports that the total production Of coal
in California in 1896 was p, go short tons,
having q spot value Of s6o,T10
The large and rapid increase in the
production OF petroleum in California,
which has grown from 4S24,4S barrels IN
I 1900 to 33,o9S.5SS barrels in 1906, and the
I use OF this product as fuel in locomotives
and in factories in the state has resulted
in the suspension Of operations at sew
eral of the lignite-producing properties,
and in consequence the returns for 1906
show a decline in production of 1850
short tons, or 67.5 per cent. The de-
crease in value is in even greater pro-
portion-from $751; ,725 to $50, ,7lO-a loss OF
1922, ,0l5 or 81 per cent; but this apparent
ly large decrease in value was due 10
the fact that in 1905. as in 1904, the value
of the product was seemingly large be-
cause the price of brlquetted fuel at
Stockton was based on the manufactured
product and not on the raw fuel.
The plant at Stockton was burned in
the fall of 1905 and has not been rebuilt.
The value in 1906 is for the raw fuel
only, as the briquetting plants of the
Western Fuel company at Oakland, and
of the Pittsburg Coal Mining company
at Antioch were operated on screening
and not from raw coal mined in the
state.
New Plant at Siege
A new briquetting plant that is now
being erected at Siege by the. company
Is designed to combine peat with heavy
California oil. The sample briquettes
heretofore made are composed of 80 per
cent peat and so per cent crude oil, and
are intended for use as domestic fuel.
rNt. ala nF kla 10 naI
company of San Francisco, which is
mentioned in the report for 1905, was de-
stroyed by the earthquake and fire OF
April 49, 1906. and has not been rebuilt.
The coal produced in California Is lig
nitic or sub-bituminous and Is mined in
a number of widely separated fields. The
chief mines are in the Mount Diablo
field, in Contra Costa county, and the
Corral Hollow field in Alameda county,
but small amounts are mined in Kern.
Monterey, Riverside and Siskiyou coun-
ties. Two other areas which have pro-
duced small amounts of coal are the
lone field in Amador and a small area
near Elsinore in Riverside county. Butte,
Del Norte, Orange, Fresno. San Diego
and other counties have also produced
small amounts, and some prospecting
has been done in Fresno, Mendocino.
Placer, Orange and Trinity counties, but
little encouragement is held out for any
extensive development outside of the two
fields now exploited.
The records of the State mining bureau
of California show a production of coal
in the state as early as 1861. 1t was at
that time one of the fifteen coal-pro-
ducing states. In the late COS and '70s
the annual production of California ex-
ceeded 100000 tons and reached maxi
mum of $4,000 tons in 1880. Since 1881
the production has been rather irregu-
lar having been largely influenced by the
imports of coal from Australia and Brit
ish Columbia. The receipts of Austria
liam coal have depended principally on
the production of wheat and its ship
ments from the Pacific coast. Vessels
bringing Australian coal as return car
goes have offered very low freight rates