Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-05-07

WV tnlS afternoon at the geological survey
- talking with DR.. George Otis Smith the
NSNH<N1E director as to his Investigations of
vSS@<zs@S9 Uncle Sans coal fields. His figures are
30 big that they dazzle the mind. The area of the
known beds has been almost doubled within the last
ten years, and it is known to cover territory
Seive times as large the states of Ohio Virginia
or Kentucky or about one-sxth that of the United
States proper
Some Of the and undeveloped regions have
beds thirty, forty fifty even eighty feet thick
and one single bed contains five six billion tons
In the whole United States according to the estimate
of Dr. Campbell made for the survey the coal in the
beds is more than 1900 billions TONS and of this
more than 1000 billion tons accessible and easily
worked Dr. Smith says that our workable coal fields
are times as large those of all of the country
combined, and that tonnage is twice great as
Ehat estimated for the rest Of the world
Uncle Sans Big Coal WALL
You have heard of the great Chinese wall have
seen it at several different places about forty
fest high and perhaps twenty feet wide at
the top. 1t begins at the Yellow runs across
China for distance OF 1900 miles The wall would
be agran OF sand or at least single brick compared
with the mighty wall that might be made of Uncle
Sans coal We shall estimate the amount at only
1900 billions of tons. taking only the workable and
aocessabe coal into the calculation II were
put out on the ground and laid up in solid masonry
Il would make wall one-third of a mile high and a
male chick reaching from New York TO San Francisco
Or suppose it be 600 feet thick which is more than
three times the width OF Pennsylvania avenue in
Washington that of of the largest streets of our
cities and make the wall three times as high as the
washington monument We shall begin the construc-
ucn at Boston and extend the wall westward How
1ar do you think it would 60. Would it reach across
the Pacific? Yes II would extend from Boston TO
Shanghai in China from there over the whole OF
Asia and Europe. until It met the Atlantic ocean on
M west coast of France would go on clear across
mat ocean to Boston, and there would be hundreds
n millions OF tons yet to spare.
But the Chinese wall a useless attempt at de-
SOuse to shut out the Tartars This is great indus
trial WALL which the keeping of our factories
busy and warm for three OF four thousand
years OF the ages to come
This estimate Of how long our coal will last is
not DR.. Smiths. tried to get him to tell but he
hedged. Said he;
"As reported by MT Parker the survey coal stats
can the total production Of coal in the United States
mp to date has been eight billion TONS which with
tho waste involved In mining, represents an exhaus
ton Of shout twelve billion tons This is less than
y OF / per cent OF the coal known to exist and
IL leaves us than 80 per cent OF our workable
coal in the ground. The amount as l have said ia
about 1900 billion tons. which means 900 times the
amount using each year. plus so per cent
added waste"
A Million ana a Half Tons Daily.
How much coal DO we use every Year,"
"Our highest production was that OF 1907 when
We used 100000 900 short tons That about
1900. 900 tons every day. We using a little
less. but It would take than 100000 trains of
Ghirty each carry the coal that annually
mining and the combined length of those trains
be between eighty and ninety thousand miles. They
would make solid train OF coal reaching two and
One-half times around the globe at the equator"
But, Mr.. Director" said l. III less than
800 million tons year. would not those 1000 billions
last 1000 yearsG"
II don't want to talk about years" said the head