Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1914-11-20
MAKING RAPID STRIDES
IN GOAL PRODUCTION.
Virginia Increased Its Output Last
Year ~ Per Cent Over Pre-
cedihg Year.
Many HEAR STATE GEoIOGIsT
Dr.. Thomas Il. Watson Delivers In.
teresting Lecture on Coal Industry
OF This State Before Richmond
Society Of Engineers.

How Virginia Is making rapid strides
coal production was told In an inter-
.sting lecture last night by Or. Thomas
leonard Watson. State Geologlst, at the
Virginia Mechanics Institute. where he
spoke under the auspices OF the Rich
nond Society OF Engineers. Tho leo
:ure was the first OF popular course
7n technical subtects to be given by
she soc!ety during the winter, and was
largely attended.
Virginia.. DR.. Watson, said. Is now the
linth OF the twenty-eight coal-pro-
lucing States. Its production. he
showed. has Increased enormously dur
ng tho past few years. and with It's
almost iimitless source of supply. and
new fields being developed, Virginia
may soon rank az one Of tho leading
States In the quantity OF coal mined
bach year. It's quality Is now equal,
duced In the most celebrated sections.
The lecture was an illustrated one,
| DR.. Watson showing by actual photo:
sraphs many scenes In the cohl fields
| Of virginia. He is in charge OF the do
partmept overseeing this class OF work,
and 10 necessarily familiar with the
- topic In every detail The fact that
virginia 10 coming forward 30 rapidly
| IN its coal production made the lecture
an interesting one, and In the big
sale and retail dealer In the city. while
|representstiveB OF freight departments
| OF several railroads were also present
TWELVE PEN CENT INCREAsE
IN VOLUME OF PRODUCTION
|, Virginia In 1919 produced $685.
Wort tons OF coal, DR.. Watson said.
This was an increaso Of 1918 per cent
over the preceding year. The total
value OF the coal mined during the year
was 97.6I8,676, or an increase OF ai,-
It8<.o77.
Even with this huge amount OF Goa!
being taken from tho earth, there Ia
little possibility OF tho Virginia f1eld
sver being worked out, according to
aEnren supplied by the speaker. Dur
ling the past ninety ono years the total
production has been aG.2s7.7sl short
tons. where there etill remains to be
mined tho enormous sum OF 22.4o3.7l2.-
:l3 tons. which is 1880 times tho
amount produced laat year.
There wcro e.162 men directly en-
ployed In mining coal in Virginia in
Iisl3. They worked on an average Of
from 2o1 TO ESQ days during the year.
producing, IN average OF Ss4 tons per
man. There were only twcnty-four
fatalities during tho year. Not a single
strike or lockout occurred in Virginia
lin 1919.
DIR. Watson divided the state into
three coai-producing districts. Tie
Richmond basin. including the Coun-~
tieg OF Henrico. Chesterfield. Goechland,
Powhntan and Amelia, contains 1901
square miles. This basin. sa!d Or.
Watson, has the only workable vein
adjacent to t!dewater. en- tho Atlantic
seaboard. 1t was here that the first
coal mining in America was done. as
carly as 1850.
1'l>n TfxSt
tho Counties OF Frederick. Augusta,
lsoci.bridge. Botetourt. Ronnoke. Pu-
laski, Montgomery, Bland and Wythe
contains 800 square miles, while the
Pennsylvania basin, comprising the
Counties of TazeweIl Buchanan. Dick
ensop. Wise, Leo and Russell, lis the
largest and most productive, having
1850 square miles to draw from.
BALTIMORE EXPERT WILL
SPEAK ON CITY PLANNING
Il. W. Farley, chairman or tho com
mittce on lectures, presided Mt the
meeting. and introduced Arthur Scrive-
nor. who. afte' outlining the work Of
the organization In short. talk. intro
duced the speaker of the evening.
Mr. Scrivenor announced that Major
j. w. Shirley. OF baltimore. chief en-
gineer on the Baltimore Typographical
Survey Commission who was In charge
OF the making over OF that city and It's
pa'h sysleH' Wouiu speak mere under
the auspices OF tho society. on Decem-
her is. tnking as hiA subject. city
Planning" which Ia a vital topic hero
ct the present time. Early in jan
nary the society Will have DR. Writ
resstn, inventor OF tho method by
nhE.h defects. in steel are determined,
de*ver Il public lecture. DIR. Tcssin
yevolutionized tho steel industry with
his discovery, and both the United
States government and the Krupp Com
,pany. which turns out the big cannons
used by the German army, arc using II
In testlns the products OF the gun
factories.
The lectures are open 10 the public
and, while dealing with technical Sub,
jects. the topics arc handled so that
the lnyman can get the meat Of them.
II Is for the public that the series was