The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1909-01-23
Government Reports Quite,
Surprising on Enormous
Demands for Lumber.

WASHINGTON, d. c., Jan. 22-l
Coal mining. next in Importance only
to agriculture and numbering among
the important Industries OF Kentucky!
Is absolutely dependent upon the for
ests for Its existence. Few people
who are mot directly connected With
mining realize that the operation Of
the mines requires thousands of feet
OF timber in the form Of props. ce-.
ment and other materials have been
tried for this use in the mines. but NO
satisfactory substitute has been
found.
The coal industry brings more than
t$1o,Oo0.oOB year to the state of
Kentucky. According to the State in
spector Of mines, Kentucky produced
in 1905. s,o3s,246 tons of coal from
her larger mines. not counting those
that produce only for local use. In
1906 this had increased to s,5ss, s2s
tons, while last year (1s07) 1886
O61 tons We're taken out OF this same
class of mines.
In the recent study OF the forest
conditions of Kentucky made by the
Forest Service in cooperation with
the State Board of Agriculture. For
estry and Immigration. the report
which is now being prepared in
Washington, an effort was made to
ascertain to what extent the mining
companies were dependent on timber,
what was their present and future
available supply and what steps, II
any, might be taken to Insure the
performance of that supply. =
Most of the coal companies opera
ting in Kentucky own or control some
timber land and draw at least part of
their supply of mining timbers from
their own land. These companies
seldom keep any account of the
amount or value of the timber thus
cut their only charge being the cost
OF cutting and delivering this timber
to the mines, Few companies sepa-
rate the cost Of sawn timber and split
or round props, and also keep the
purchase cost with the cost OF plac-
ing in the mine under the one head
of "timbering." 1t is plain what diff
ficulty this puts in the way OF obtain
ing reliable data.
From the best figures obtainable, 1t
has been calculated that in the east
ern and southern parts of the state 1t
take an average six-tenths OF n
cubic foot Of round or split timber for
each ton of coal removed. This in
cludes props, caps, room ties and
collars. but does not include rails,
brattice or other sawn lumber, The
mines in this region arc usually above
water line and are entered on the
level, while in the West deep shafts
are mostly used. The roof Is usually
slate in the East and so more props
are needed than in the West. where
limestone roof often makes the
use OF props unnecessary. In this
latter region an average of about
one-fourth of a cubic foot of timber
per ton of coal is needed. varying
with the nature OF the roof.
! The total output of 1O,436,O61 tons
Of coal for Kentucky in 1907 was taxi
en- from something like 800 mines.
Using the above figures as a basis
this entailed the use OF something
over 100000 cubic feet OF round
mining timber, or an equivalent OF
about 24.OO0.O00, board measure Of
timber in the year, which is about
10000 feet board measure to the ay-
erage mine of $4,000 tons annual out
put. Though this is not all cut from
understandable saw timber. much the
greater part of 1t is. The mines are
usually supplied by contract as the
larger timber is split up, yields more
props, and is consequently easter and
cheaper to handy. 1t Is generally
taken in preference to the smaller
growth. Contractors are usually Civ
en- free hand and often the finest
ash. poplar. and white oak timber
is made up into props in preference
to the less valuable timber.
Besides the split props, there is
something like one board foot Of
sawn timber per ton of coal put into
the mines In the year for rails. and
brattice, etc. 1t can not be deter
mined how much sawn timber is used
above ground for tippIe and other
construct. but one board foot per
ton would be a very conservative es-
innate. At this rate the average
mine would require about 10000 feet
of sawn lumber. besides the split and
round timber, which would amount to
an equivalent of $4,000 board feetI
more.
At an average of 5000 feet of tim
Der per acre for forest land in Ken
lucky, about so acres would have TO
be cut over annually to supply need
ful timber to the average mine. At
the present rate of growth, 1900 or
more acres of woodland would bel
needed to furnish continuous sup
ply to the average mine, allowing for
no increase Of production. Some
companies arc operating two or three