Evening star., 1925-10-11

there is no good reason why II
should not keep warm, the an
L thracite coal strike notwith
standing"
This in brief Is the belief Of officials
or the Government who are in touch
themselves. The principal danger In
the territory where anthracite is used
Is panicky buying and boarding, fore
ing prices up, and in a failure to ap
preciate the fact that substitutes car
be used for the hard coal.
The anthracite strike has been OF
Tor six weeks. But less is heard of II
than of any other coal strike that has
occurred in years. The Federal Gov.
ernment Is keeping its hands off in the
present controversy, having adopted a
watchful waiting policy.
The real danger Of suffering for lack
OF fuel would come, it is said. in the
event of a bituminous strike Of large
proportions, or a tie-up of the rail
roads which handle the coal. Neither
OF these possibilities, however, is
classed as a proba bility. Efforts to
bring about a strike of the soft coal
miners in West Virginia have met
with little success.
Soft Coal Plentiful.
The situation today with regard to
the anthracite strike is vastly different
from that of past hard coal strikes
The production of bituminous coal
which must be used in large part to
substitute for the anthracite. is now
something more than 70 per cent from
non-union mines and less than 80 per
cent from union mines. Even If the
union mines in the soft coal fields
should close down, with the increased
pressure to produce bituminouS coal
the country would still receive a huge
quantity of soft coal. Formerly the
situation was just reversed, with the
union mines producing the great ma
Jorfty OF the soft coal.
In round numbers the annual pro.
duction of anthracite coal Is 80, 900, 900
tons and its consumption the same.
1t Is used for the most part in a mar
row strip of States along the Allan.
tic coast from Maine to Virginia.
These States use more than 20 per
cent of the anthracite mined. About
Z per cent goes to Canada and the
rest Is scattered.
The estimated potential annual pro-
ductfon Of the soft coal mines is
1000 o.000,o tons, whereas the actual
production has run around 500 900, 900
tons. 1t would appear, therefore,
that the bftuminous production could
without great difficulty substitute for
the 90,00o,000 tons of anthracite, If
that were withdrawn from the mar.
ket. and still some.
The greatest single factor counted
upon to force an agreement between
the anthracite miners and the opera.
tors is this probable shift from the use
of hard coal to soft coal In the sec.
ton of the country which has used
anthracite for heating purposes. Dur.
ing the World War, when transpor-
tation facilities were strained to their
capacity and rates were high to the
markets in the West, Northwest and
South, where anthracite had been
used in some quantity, substitutes
were adopted. 1t IS noticeable that
some Of the markets then lost to an.
thracite have not been regained. The
production OF anthracite, indeed. has
failed to keep pace with the increase
in population even in those sections
where it has been most used.
Gives More Heat.
Probably no man Is better qualified
to speak OF the bituminous coal sit
uation than Harry l.. Candy, former
member of Congress from South Da
kota and now the executive secre.
tary of the National Coal Association.
The National Coal Association in
cludes in its affiliated membership
commercial bituminous coal tonnage
of the country. 1t does not include
anthracite producers. Mr.. Candy be
lieves firmly that bituminous coal
will see the country through the pres.
ent anthracite strike, If that strike
continues. His own home in the
Northwest, Mr.. Candy points out. has
been heated for years with bitumi-
nous coal. and he believes there is no
reason why the homes of the people
in Washington, In the Middle Atlantic
States and New England should not
be so heated IL anthracite Is unavail-
able-or even If 1t is.
'"The deposits of bituminous coal in
the United States" said Mr.. Candy,
with reference to this possibility, ARE
so large and so widespread, that for
hundreds of years this country can
rest assured of a supply sufficient for
it's needs. Even an extraordinary in
dustrial expansion could easily be sup
piled with the necessary fuel. The
Geological Survey has estimated that
there are located in this country.
within 5000 feet of the surface of the
ground. approximately $500, ,000. .00O.-
900 tons of bituminous coal Of all
grades. 1t is recognized that some of
this coal is of inferior quality, and
also that a considerable part of 1t can
not be mined. A committee of emi-
nent engineers. with r. V. Norris as
bituminous coal properties of the
United States for the United States
Coal Commission, appointed under au.
thority Of Congress to investigate the
coal industry. They made an esti-
mate Of the total recoverable tonnage
OF bituminous coal, allowing not only
for such coal as could not be mined
on account of thinness of seams or
for other reasons, but allowing also
for the unavoidable loss in mining
due to the inability to take out 100
per cent of the deposits without pro-
hibitive cost. They found the amount
of recoverable bituminous coal in con.
tinental United States to be 1,625,000,.
100000 tons. They also estimated re-
coverable Ignite deposits amounting
to nearly 544.ooo,ooo.ooo tons.
Supply Widely Scattered.
TN the industrially developed north
eastern section of the country they
estimated bituminous coal deposits ac.
tually recoverable at $3.50. 900, 900
tons in West Virginia.; 81 .290, 900 900
tons in Kentucky; 53,920.00 900 tons
in Illinois; S4.920. .000. 900 tons in Penn.
sylvania: 34.64o. .oO0,0o tons in Ohio,
and 26.640. 100000 tons in Indiana.
w ulle no HBuTeS are aVa1laDle
showing actual investment in all the
coal.mining properties Of the country
this same committee has estimated
that the total value of coal deposits
mines and equipment Is 11,443 900
600. OF this amount $5,157 900 ,00t
represents value of reserve tonnage
and $6.2S6. 100000 the value of de-
posits likely to be mined within a
generation or SO. and of the existing
equipment Of bituminous coal mines. y
t.