The Washington times., 1915-06-30

OF workable coal lands, all certain in
time 10 have commercial value, have
more than $4,000 more square miles are
listed as possibly workable" ard
finally, of lower-grade Goals or those
for the present inaccessible for prohii-
able operation, there Is about as much
more coal known to exist in the
country.
Have we. however. thus far been
| skimming the cream off the more ad.
vantaseously located coal supplies?
"As to the anthracite. there Is d.
| vergence OF opinion" he replied. Some
! believe production is about at its maxi
mum. and that the annual output must
begin to fall off before long. Other au-
thorities think the reserves there are
| such that the production can be con-
tinued without particular diminution for
a great many years. AS to skimming
of the cream. II is to be remembered
that even vet. though Pennsylvania has
been more closely worked than any other
region. vet every new line Of railroad
built there opens new coal field.
Scientists Optimism Bolstercd.
/, Especially in the Rocky Mountain
States Is 1t true that the reserves have
| hardly been scratched yet; certainly for
| fifty years to come new fields will be
! constantly opening for mining and mar
ket absolutely virgin. as the railroads
| are extended and demand increases"
Optimism Of the scientists about the
national fuel supply is bolstered when
! one turns to the testimony Of the engt-
! neers. In very recent years improve
| nnents have been made in the construc-
ton Of steam boilers and plants. by
which the power production from coal is
Increased in a measure that formerly
! seemed impossible.
1t is we'll known that most of the po-
tent!al power in a pound of coal Is
muting IT into steam and applying the
steam. But the progress made in in
creasing the efficiency of steam plants
has been even more wonderful than that
in discovering new sources of coal sup
ply. In the best steam plants a ton OF
coal Is worth vastly more than II ever
was before: even UP 10 two or three
times the amount OF energy Is extracted
from ii.
Inroads Are Rapid.
This country has for a long tim
shown, for each decade, approximate!
twice the fuel consumption Of the pre-
ceding decade. Doubling it up ever.
ten years makes the inroads very rapid
But it is now confidently believed tina
this ratio of growing consumption will
be sharply checked as better method
of steam production are introduced. a
they are being very rapidly. Industrie
cannot afford the waste of old methods
and rapid progress IS making towar'
. the best usages.
This decrease in the cost OF steam
power has lately been so marked tina
, In some sections ii has had a YER
depressing effect on the development o
hydro-electric power. II steam can b
;; made cheaper than water power. It VII
hold the field until reduced supplies an
, higher cost OF coal shall change tn
condition; and this is exactly what
reported now to be taking place.
! There have been Several reports recent
lily Of water-power developments, in con
nection with industries. being droppe
because the promoters had decided tn
new methods of steampower producto
made 1t decidedly cheaper to use steam
2 This has been the determination in
q number OF cases where. a few year
2 ago, all the argument would have bee
3 Tin favor Of water power.