The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1913-08-14
QUA ENORMOUS COAL PILE.

The production of coal In 1912
reached the great total of 534,466,58O
short tons, valued at the mines at
s695,606,07l, according to statement
by Edward w. Parker, coal statisti-
clan, just issued by the United States
Geological Survey.
This year the report on the coal in.I
dustry of the United States begins
the fourth decade in which coal sta
,tistics have been published annually
by the Geological Survey. In 1882,
the first year of this period, the total
coal production of the United States
had reached what was then consider
ed about high water mark-l03,551,-
1S9 short tons, In 1912 the produc-
ton of bituminous coal alone in the
State of Pennsylvania exceeded that
figure by nearly so per cent and the
combined production Of bituminous
coal and anthracite in Pennsylvania
in 1912 was 2A times the total pro-
duction of the United States in 1882.
The total coal production of the Unit
ed States in 1912 was more than five
times that of 1882 In 1882 the Unit
ed States was a poor second among
world, Great Britain having an output
exceeding that of this country by
nearly 20 per cent The United
States supplanted Great Britain as
the premier coal producing country in
1899, and in 1912 it was as far ahead
of Great Britain as that country was
ahead of the United States in 1882.
The United States at present is con-
tributing 40 per cent of the worlds
supply of coal and is consuming over
SO per cent Of it's own production.
In 1912 the production of coal In
the United States not only surpassed
all previous tonnage records, but the
average value per ton exceeded that
of any normal year in the 80 years
for which statistics are available.
There has been only one year when
prices generally were higher than in
1912, and that was 1903, the year Of
the fuel famine. -,fl I'D lr
The gain in output in 1912 over
1911 was 3S,095,45 short tons and
the increase i'm value was $69,04O,S6O.
The production of bituminous coal in
creased from 405 ,907 ,059 short tons to
$50, l04, 1882 tons, gain OF 44,l97923
tons, with an increase of $66,6O7626
in value The decreased production
of anthracite, amounting to 6,lO2,469
short tons, was due entirely to the
suspension of mining in April and
May, when practically the entire reg
ion was idle. The factors which con-
tributed to the increased output of
bituminous coal were ~ the revival
in the iron and steel industry. which
stimulated production in the Eastern
states, the coal made into coke show
ing, alone, an increase of nearly o.
900 900 tons; (2) bumper crops OF
grain and other agricultural products,
which gave prosperity to the farming
communities of the middle west; (3)
decreasing supplies of natural gas and
fuel oil in the Mid-Continent field and
their consequent qessened competition
with coal from the southwestern
states; az increased consumption by
railroads and in nearly all lines of
manufacturing; % activity, in the
mining and smelling of the precious
and semiprecious metals in the Rocky
Mountain and Pacific States. These
factors combined made the year 1912
years in the mining Of bituminous
coal "a,
OF the 81 states in which coal min
ing may be considered to be conduct
ed on a commercial basis, there were
81 in which the output of 1912 showed
an increase over 1911, and IN all but
two of the important states the in
crease in value was greater than the
increase in tonnage.
In the production of bituminous
coal Pennsylvania in 1912 showed an
increase of 1894 ,231 short tons. West
Virginia's increase in 1912 was g.
$3.50 tons. Illinois increased its
production by 62O6,10S tons. Ohio by
3,768,741 tons, Kentucky by 2.440,81S
tons, Indiana by 1.0S4,36 tons, Ala
bama by 1,O79.179 tons, Virginia by
$751; 71 tons, Colorado by S20.441 tons,
and Kansas by 8O7, asa tons.
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