The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-13

vigorously and at once. we shall es. cape permanent timber scarcity. | What Must Re Done.
 | Eor each mllHon acres of forest In vately owned The conservation of | public forerts Is the smaller task be- fore the nation and the States. The larger task is to induce private forest | owners which means s.0O0.0o0 men. to take care af what they have. and to seach wood users. which means every one, now not to waste,
 IT snese things are done. they will conserve our streams as well as our torests. If they are not done. the use- | iulness or our streams will decrease no | iess than the usefulnes of our forests. | we must stop forest fires. By care- ful logging. we must both reduce waste Il ana leave cut-over lands productive. l we must make the timber logged go turtner. by preservative treatment and ny avoiding needless loss in the min. the factory. and in use. We must plant up those lands now treeless which VIII pc most useful under forest. We mus, must SO adjust taxation that cut-over lands can be held for second crop. we must srecognize that timber costs no iess to grow than 1t does to log
 We must continue and perfect. by State and Nation, the preservation by use ot forests already publicly owned; and ws must extend 1t to other moun- .sIn forests more valuable for the per- mauent benefit of the many than for the temporary profit of few.
 The inventory of the mineral re- sources of the United States which the Gsec.ion or minerals of the National Conservation Commission. under. the craftsmanship of Representative John 1 Dalzell of Pennsylvania. has made dur Ing the summer and fall Is a long list by the report of the section before the joint conservation conference. | which summarizes the figures of the country's mineral wealth. Some of the main features of this report were as
 what We Have.
 | me mineral production of the United | States. now exceed $2.000,000 in value culture as contribution to our na- tional wealth. It furnishes our light l neat and power, and supplies 65 per cent of the freight traffic of the coun-
 The waste in the mining and treat ment of mineral substances during a year IS equivalent to more than $3oe.- The Fuels
 Of all our minerals the fuels. which | supply heat, light, and power for | domestic as well as industrial purposes. are the most Fundamentally essential 1 To the nation The use of the fueis l involves their immediate and complete destruction. The use of large supplies of other materials also increases the rate of consumption of the fuels for purposes. for as the nation has now passed its early development stage. manufacturing and consequently, the use of the fuels will increase much more rapidly than population.
 l Exhaustion of Coal.
 The available and easily accessible supplies of coal in the United States aggregates approximately 1.4s3.S0o.- | ffNEa A #s neFZ ing rate of production this supply will be so depleted as to approach exhaus- tton before the middle of the next cen tury.
 From the beginning of coal-mining In this country down to the close of 1907, | there were mined 6,S65, ,000.0 GOO tons, anu | It is estimated that for every ton pro- duced half a ton has been lost or vast ed; so that the above production repre- sents an exhauBtion of the coal supply | to January 1, 1908, aggregating 10,200.- | 000.000, tons. The rate of production has been steadily increasing.
 | The first step in extending the life | of our fuel supply, according to the 1 report, should be to lessen the waste in mining. handling and transportation of coal But there are equally great pos | sible savings, 1t says, in the use of the coal not only in the prevention of waste now recognized as such. but also in discovering means ok avoiding the | losses involved in the Transformation | energy.
 1 Iron,
 The known supplies of high grade iron ores in the United States ap- | proximate 3,S40, 06S. 900 tons, which at l the present Increasing rate of con. | Sumption cannot be expected to last beyond the middle Of the present cen tury. If the average increase in the | shown in the past, should be continued 1 1t would require the production dur ing the next three decades of e.S2s.00O.- 900 tons. It is evident therefore. that before 1940. either. the production will have reached a maximum and begun to decline, or large use must be made of low grade ores not now classed as7 available. or the importation Of foreign should be remembered that in the future use of low grade iron ores. the condition will be rendered stiIl fur ther unfavorable through the neces. sary use of low grade coalE. ..,e
 other Important Minerals.
 The known supplies of petroleum, natural gas. and high grade pho sphate rock cannot be expected. according to the estimate In the report. to last much beyond the middle of the present cen tury.
 Wante of structural Material.
 The waste of natural mineral re- sources used in building and engineer ing construction Is of three kinds:
 1. That due to improper and waste ful methods of mining and preparing for market
 9. That due to excessive use of structural material, because of ignor- l ance of their strength, durability. etc. l
 3. That due to destruction by fire ] on account of the inflammable charac- | ter of building construction and in- adequate building laws. and the non- 1 enforcement thereof
 Fire Waste And LOsaea.
 The greatest source of waste ot structural materials and of money | which can be most readily reduced by l the substitution of fire-resisting build | ing materials for the inflammable con- | structton now so prevalent. The cost | of fire to the country, including not | only property destroyed, but main | tenancc of fire departments. payment | or insurance premiums, protective | agencies, additional cost of water sup | plies. etc, amounted to over yS466,4S5,- | 300 in 1907, or about 50 per cent. of the | total value of the new building con- | struction in that year. This fire tax | exceeded the total value of coal. silver. l copper and petroleum production of the | United States in that year, and was | thirteen times the interest on the na- tional debt. Four fifths of this loss. | or $SoS,OUV,UUU Is preventaoIe waste | compared with the present European | standard of building construction and | fire losses. The property loss from | fires iR the United states In 1907 was | $2.51 per capita, while in the cities 1 of six large European countries 1t was | only forty eight cents per capita. The 1 total per capita loss. including interest | and maintenance of fire departments, 1 excessive water supplies, insurance 1 l.449 persons lost their lives in fra | while 5, ,654 were injured.