Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-02-10
UNCLE SANS COAL SUPPLY.
How 1t II Being Conserved For tI,s
Denefit OF the Am. r,cc, u.,

VINO uses the most coal? First and
foremost of any single Industry. thu
railroads consume 90,0oo,Ooo to 100
ooo'o0o tons year, and these ana
steamships probably use nearlv an
per cent. OF the country's outnu+
which is as much or more than is used
for all domestic and heating purposes
This leaves approximately one-halt
OF the total neutrality-suspicious.
oituminous.-to be accounted for bv
by the Industries OF the country.
Coal and manufacturing are terms
which are in general practise closelv
related, but they are constantly
changing their adjustments. which
affect and are In turn affected bv
transportation. For instance New
YORK Is tho greatest anufncturing
state, yet she POSSESSES no coal mines
On the other hand, West Virginia IL
the third largest coal producer, but
she has comparatively no manufac-
lures. The time will doubtless coma
when West Virginia, with her vast
coal resources, will stop shining
away all her fuel. largely to New
York and New England, and become
great manufacturing State II is on.
ly necessary to consult the statistics
Of manufacturing Of any region to ar
rive at q close approximation of H.,
relative coal consumption Some flr-
ures prepared from the 1905 anthrs
cite coal output,-practically all from
Pennsylvania mines .--will convey an
idea OF where the country's hard coa,
renders its final accounting. IN tina.
year. New York. New Jersey and Penn.
sylvania consumed in round numbers
Al 100000 tons. New England. 5000
900 tons: States west Of the Ohio
River 700 900; Southern States :,
100000 tons. and Canada. 100000
tons. Only 10000 tons were exported
THE GOVERNMENT COAL-LAND
POLICY.
The present coal-land policy pro.
vides for the saving to the Govern.
rlent and the people Of enormous
sums OF money. and prevents the mon.
opolization by private interests Of the
Western coal.fields The most ad.
vanced. scientific, and effective meth
DDS Of classifying and valuing the ma
TONS remaining GOAL lands possible
under the present law have been ad-
opted. and the evident intent Of the
policy initiated by Secretary Garfield
and now further advanced by Score
tary Bailinser Is 70 promise develop
ment and econ omtcal utilization. and
at the same time TO obtain adequate
returns from those valuable lands.
| There 10, OF course some opposition
to the increased valuation which the
Government Il placing upon Its coal
land. 1t may be conceded that the pol.
Icy Of basfns the price on quantity
and quality Of the article sold will
not encourage purchase by SPECTATORS
but It is maintained that the Govern.
ment valuation will not impede the
disposition Of the coal deposits 70,
purposes Of utilization. The real de-
velopment Of the wost will be- promo
ted. not retarded. Moreover, those
who would oppose the policy, even IN
the West. must be greatly IN the min
GRITTY when It Is considered that the
coal receipts go into the Reclamation
Fund for the irrigation Of the arid
lands. The greater the coal receipts
the more money for Government irri-
cation and home-making. while at the
same time the burden OF increase in
| coal-land prices does not fall upon
the settler, but upon the mining cor
poration. The classification and high
or valuation of the public coal lands
hold out the assurance Of a large ana
increasing income to the irrigation
fund for years ana decades TO come
The coal-iand sales for December.1sos
and january, 1909. amounted to s9s.
| s57. or at the rate of nearly 100000
| a year. THIS alone would convert into
homes 10000 acres OF desert land
Taking as basis $50 an acre as the
cost Of reclamation by Irrigation, Il
Will he seen that every acre sold O.
Government 5000 coal land will re-
claim for homes 10 acres of desert and
every acre OF coal sold at $500 will re-
clairn 20 acres Of desert. More recent
/ transactions indicate that the GOV.
ernment coal-lands will range greatly
IN excess Of those figures.
PERPETUATIoN OF THE COAL SUP.
Until recently there has been little
thought Of ECONOMY in coal produc-
ton or utilization. For every ton
mined another ton or more has beer
wasted either In the shape OF coal
dust or slack. or coal left In the
ground Mining methods have, how.
over, improved. and the loss amounts
to " Per cont, ~ against 90 per cent.
short time ago In many mines ~
7b per cent. OF the coal 10 recovered
Likewise much higher efficiency IS
being secured In tho uti,isetion OF thu
coal A single sxsmpls Will serve 10
show the possibilities In this line.
In extensive experiments made by
tho Techn ologic branch Of the United
States Geological Survey It has been
found that by first converting the
coal into gas and then using II in q
! gas engine double and IN some instan-
ces over three times the efficiency can
be secured that is achieved under the
ordinary steam boiler, For Industrial
purposes, therefore. we at one step,
practically double II not treble tbs
coal area Of the country. Moreover
the sensational discovery was made by
the Survey tests that the low grade
Ignite of the Northwest and Texas
underlying an area OF some 100000 GOO
acres. when used IN gas engines, de-
veloped more power than the best Po'
cahontas coal under ordinary steam
| Ing methods From the Pocahontas
coal the Geological Survey steam
plant produced .2S horse power per
pound. while the gas producer gener-
ated ,ss horse power per pound. or s34
times the efficiency for the gas pro-
Queer plant over the steam plant
These Ignite GOALS haze been looked
upon as OF little II any commercial
value: now the regions where they
are found are considered as possible