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BRITISH COAL SUPPLIES REPORT.
THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN.
The effect of the final report of the British Royal
Commission on coal supplies, which was recently
issued, is that the United Kingdom is in no immediate
danger of a coal famine. The document propounds
a paradox, for though the commission of
1811 estimated the coal resources of the country
then available at 90,207,285,398 tons, the present
commission is confident that the available quantity
in the proved coal fields is 100,914,668,167 tons,
or 10,707,382,769 tons in excess of the store of
coal which was available 34 years ago. Yet in
the period from January 1, 1870, to December 31,
1903, 5,694,9z8,507 tons of coal were extracted,
and in spite of that the British Isles have more
coal than ever they had. The mystery of the
widow's cruse seems to be outdone, but it is explained
that the excess is accounted for by the
difference in the areas regarded as productive by
the two commissions, and by discoveries due to
recent sinkings and workings, and to more accurate
knowledge. The commission finds that the
depth of workings is increasing, though the deepest
collieries are in other countries. The greatest
depth is attained at Pendleton, in Lancashire,
about 3,000 feet below the surface, or more than
half a mile down; and it is declared that no insuperable
mechanical or engineering difficulty exists
in deep mining, nor is it necessarily unhealthy,
in spite of increasing temperature, if the
ventilation be brisk and the air dry. At Pendleton
it is now found just as comfortable to work
at 93Va degrees in the deeper levels as it was at
82 degrees formerly. The limit of deep mining is
the limit of cost, and the commission assumes that
4,000 feet is the extmeme possible depth in mining
and that a width of twelve inches is the limit.
below which seams cannot be profitably worked.
Of the coal available above that level no less than
79.3 per cent, is in seams of two feet thick and
upwards, and 91.6 per cent, in seams of more
than eighteen inches.
It is further estimated that below a depth of
4,000 feet there are seams in Great Britain containing
5,239,433,980 tons of coal, though the commissioners
express no opinion as to whether it is
workable. There are also large "unproved" coal
fields, the supply from which is speculative; they
are outside the area dealt with, and it is estimated
that at depths less than 4,000 feet they contain
39,483,000,000 tons. This includes the undersea
area lying between five and twelve miles beyond
high-water mark in the Cumberland coal
field estimated to contain 854,000,000 tons, and
those areas undersea in St. Bride's and Carmarthen
Bay with 383,000,000 tons.
Having regard to these conclusions the commissioners
seem to have no anxiety as to the
future coal supply. Indeed, they estimate that.
:;i
although the output of the British coal fields has
grown rapidly until it has reached 230,000,000 tons,
the rate of increase in the output will shortly tend
to diminish owing to natural causes; then they
believe there will be a stationary period, finally a
gradual decline in the rate of increase. Holding
this opinion they declare against the coal tax,
saying "it is self-evident that the export duty
which came into force in the early part of the
year 1901 must affect our competitive power (i. e.,
in the international coal trade), and must have an
influence on the exportation of coal." They add:
ihere seems no present necessity to restrict artificially
the export of coal in order to conserve
it for our home supply." The witnesses all believed
that export of coal must be maintained, and
that it is essential to commerce.
The decline in the ratio of the output is to be
obtained by possible economies which are discussed
at length. A great deal of coal is wasted,
being left in the mines as roof supports or barriers,
or because it is unsalable owing to its
broken condition. But coke ovens fitted for the
recovery of by-products and factories for the manufacture
of briquettes or "patent fuel" are extending
the utilization of inferior coal; and developments
in the production of power gas tend in the
same direction. Central pumping stations also
make for economy, and the work under the South
Staffordshire mines drainage act has made available
a large quantity of small coal which might
otherwise have been lost. Coal cutting machinery
is also valuable in enabling thin seams to be
worked profitably, and whereas in 1900 there
were only 311 such machines at work in British
pits, there were in 1903, 643 at work in 225 collieries,
with an output of 5,245,578 tons. They
yield a larger percentage of coal than hand labor,
and it is in better condition and shows less waste.
If all engines were as efficient as the best only
half the quantity of coal now required for steam
Raising would be used. If gas engines were
used instead of steam the 52.000,000 tons annually
required for steam raising would be reduced to
11,000,000 tons. The utilization of inferior fuel
for power gas generation, the employment of blast
furnace gases for a similar purpose, the improvement
of methods of domestic heating, whereby a
consumption of o2,000,000 tons might be reduced to
half, and other economies towards which the
country is tending, will enable it to husband still
further its enormous resources and put the dread
of a coal famine out of mind.
The laboratory of the mechanical engineering
department of the University of Tennessee has
been equipped with a Cameron regular boiler feed
pump.