Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-01-29

the people generally.
In the first stage the re-
ceived little thought. In the second
they were wastefully used. In the
stage which we are entering wise and
beneficial uses are essential, and the
checking Of waste is absolutely de-
handed.
The waste which most urgently re-
quires checking varies widely in char
acter and amount. The most repre-
hensible waste is that of destruction,
as in forest fires; uncontrolled flow of
gas and oil, soil wash and abandon
ment of coal in the mines. This is at
tributable, for the most part, to igno-
rance, indifference or false notions of
economy, to rectify which is the BUSH
ness of the people collectively.
Nearly as reprehensible is the waste
arising from misuse, as in the con-
sumption of fuel in furnaces and en-
gines of low efficiency, the loss of wa
ter in floods, the employment of i'll
adapted structural materials, the grow
ing of i'll chosen crops and the perpetu-
alton of inferior stocks of plants and
animals, all of which may be RENE
died.
Reprehensible in less degree is the
waste arising from nonuse. Since the
utilization of any one resource is nee
essarily progressive and dependent on
social and Industrial conditions and the
concurrent development Of other re-
sources, nonuse is sometimes unayoid-
able. 1t becomes reprehensible when
1t affects the common welfare and en-
tails future injury. Then 1t should be
rectifed in the general interest.
Natural are Of no avail
without men and women to develop
them, and only a strong and sound
citizenship can make a nation perma-
nently great. We cannot too soon en-
ter on the duty of conserving u chief
disease and the prolongation of life.
Waste reduced and u saved
are the first, but not the last, object
of conservation. The material re-
sources have an additional value when
their preservation adds to the beauty
and habitability of the land. Ours Is
pleasant land In which to dwell. To
increase its beauty and augment Its
fitness cannot but multiply u pleas
ure in 1t and strengthen the bonds of
our attachment.
Minerals
The mineral production Of the Unit
ed States for 1907 exceeded $2,000,0O0,-
600 and contributed 65 per cent of the
total freight traffic Of the country. The
waste in the extraction and treatment
of mineral products during the same
year was equivalent to more than
$30O,O00,0OO.
The production for 1907 included
1906, 600, 900 tons Of bituminous and 3d.
100000 tons Of anthracite coal, 1885,
100000 barrels of petroleum, 100000
tons of high grade and 100000 tons
of low grade iron ore, 2,5O0,0O0 tons of
phosphate rock and 800, 100000 pounds
of opp The values of other min
eral products during the same year in
cluded clay products, $162. 10000;
stone, $71, 600; cement, 5 100000;
natural gas. $4,000, 900; gold, 100000
600; silver. $37, 100000; lead. $4,000
600, and zinc, $26, 100000.
The available and easily accessible
supplies Of coal in the United States
aggregate approximately 1,400, 0,000,-
600 tons. At the present increasing
rate Of production this supply will be
so depleted as to approach exhaustion
before the middle of the next century.
The known supply of high grade iron
ores in the United States approximates
3,S40,000,0 900 tons, which at the present
increasing rate of consumption cannot
be expected to last beyond the middle
of the present century. In addition to
this, there are assumed to be $4,000
100000 tons of lower grade iron ores
which are not available for use under
existing conditions.
The supply of stone, clay. cement,
lime, sand and salt is ample, while the
stock of the precious metals and of cop
per, lead, zinc, sulphur, asphalt, graphite.
lead, zinc, sulphur, asphalt, graphite,
quicksilver, mica and the rare metals
cannot well be estimated, but is clear
ly exhaustible within one to three cen
turtles unless unexpected deposits be
found.
The known supply of petroleum is
estimated at $4,000. 100000 to 20,000,-
100000 barrels, distributed through six
separate fields having an aggregate
area of $500 square miles. The pro-
duction is rapidly increasing, while the
wastes and the loss through misuse
are enormous. The supply cannot be
expected to last beyond the middle of
the present century.
The known natural gas fields aggre-
gate an area of 5000 square miles, dis
tributed through twenty-five states. OF
the total yield from these fields during
1907, 400, 900, 100000 cubic feet, valued
at $62, 000, 1000, were utilized, while an
equal quantity was allowed to escape
into the air. The daily waste of natu-