Year: 1872




good" This sound old saw promises to hold
true in the case Of the extraordinary advance
in the price Of English coal. For several
years cautious people have been throwing dis
trust upon the sufficiency Of the coal supply Of
England to last for long term under the
very rapid draft upon it. Some statisticians
have computed that, allowing for an increase
Of the quantity mined proportionate to that OF
the last decade, three hundred years would ex-
haust the mines to the lowest depth from
which it could proftably be raised. Others, of
the croaker class, declared with sad forebod-
ings that the middle Of the next century would
see England's coal cellar empty and her
foundries and all enterprises employing steam
power suspended or obliged to go beyond the
island kingdom for fuel. Suddenly last Sum-
mer an altogether different cause produced al
most the same disaster as would the announce
ment that the mines were used up. What with
miners strikes and great advance in wages,
the coal has been SO scantily and expensively
raised that its price has gone up more
than fifty per cent, creating the gloomiest ap-
prehension Of suffering in the coming winter
among the poor, and forcing the sus-
pension of many manufacturing establish
ments or their running on short time.
In this emergency the Britons have
scarried Goals to Newcastle from the mines of
France and other neighboring countries, and
the experiment is making to supplement their
supply from the inexhaustible deposits on this
side Of the Atlantic. The fuel famine has also
stimulated the search for coal in the sister
island, and the Irish journals are jubilant over
the alleged discovery Of several most promis-
ing coal measures in various sections of the
Emerald Isle. Confident that "England's
difficulty is Ireland's opportunity" excitable
Celtic editors vehemently urge Irish capitalists
to set at once about thoroughly developing
their coal mines, building up o great Irish in
dustry, and drawing back from England
return for the heavy tribute Ireland has SO
long paid her conqueror. We are presented
with bright pictures of hardy and industrious
laborers, supplied with abundant and we'll
paying employment in the land Of their birth,
and enjoying at home the blessings Of abund-
ance which they have till now been obliged to
seek across the sea- Ireland's towns are to
grow, her churches and schools to be rebuilt
and her people to become rich and happy.
All these, and many other hopeful things, are
predicated upon the successful working
Of the deposits of black diamonds
which lack Of concerted enterprise has
allowed to slumber useless beneath
the fertile soil Of Erin. Not only crystallized
sunshine awaits the labor Of the Irish miner.
Wicklow has long been known to possess rich
veins Of gold. Kinsale, too, is reported as
recently producing q nugget of the same
precious metal. Silver ore has also been found.
West Cork is said to have mines of the finest
copper in the United Kingdom. Sulphur is
abundant in several localities. Benburb has
slate beds Of the finest quality. Lead, anti
mony and magnesia swell the list of the
mostly unproductive resources Of Ireland In
this enumeration peat the common fuel Of the
island, should not be omitted, as its bountiful
supply is certainly o most material element Of
natural wealth. Should the scarcity and high
price Of mineral fuel in England have the
effect to induce Irish capital and enterprise to
thoroughly work Ireland's mines, it may in
time happen that the western island may be-
come the thriving industrious hive of the King
dom, overshadowing England in prosperity,
wealth and power, and poetic justice be vim
dicated by the removal of the British capital
to Dublin and the transfer of commercial su-
premacy to Cork and Galway. If such rosy
dreams Of future Irish greatness should not be
realized, it is to be hoped that full and prof.
table working Of Irish mines may result from
the attention now specially directed to these
long neglected elements of wealth.


A Coon ExHIpIr.-A report from the Com
missioner Of Public Works, published to-day,
shows that during the first eight months Of
MIR. Van Norts administration he has ex-
nanded one and a half million dollars less on