THE NATIONAL COAL SUPPLY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12593, 6 September 1905, Page 5

THE NATIONAL COAL SUPPLY.

The question of how long will be the life of the coal supply of Great Britain is dealt with in the "Quarterly Review," the article being founded on the report of the Royal Commission which fully investigated the subject. It is freely admitted that the prosperity of the nation as an industrial centre is based on these coal supplies, and alarming views as to their early exhaustion have from time to time been put forward. It is now found that there is. more coal in sight than there was when the Royal Commission of 1871 reported, and this after the unexpectedly heavy consumption of more than 30 years. The development of mining and the opening up of new seams account for the difference. The figures— the enormous figures—are:—

Tons. Consumed in 33 years 5,604,928,500 In sight, 1876 90,207,285,300 In sight, 1903 100,914,668,100 The Commission took 4,000 feet as the limit of practicable depth of working, anil 1 foot as the minimum workable thickness of seam. To what depth coal mining can be precuted still remains a, matter of opinion, but the testimony is tolerably conclusive that a 4,000-foot level can be operated upon. The Pendleton pit, near Manchester, is the deepest working in England, and the shaft is down 3,500 feet, but it is to be noted that the Pendleton engineer is dubious about going much further. "The crush will increase," he says, "and certainly the heat, and with the increase in pressure you might not be. able to keep the roads open." Belgium, however, has the deepest coal mine in the world, and the practical experts there declare that the workings can be pushed down to 5,000 feet. Some interesting work is likely soon to be conducted on the Transvaal, where the "Turf Club" bore-hole encounters the reef at a depth of 4,970 feet, so that in this property mining will only begin at a depth of 5,000 feet from the surface. As to the mining depths of today, it is reported that in the Caluniet and Hecla (U.S.) copper mines a vertical depth of 4,712 feet has been reached, and it is proposed to open workings at 4,900 feet. The conditon, -of miners, it is noted, has improved with the increase of the coal depths. The seams worked are thicker, they are dry and .warm, and good ventilation is an essential condition. The question of whether economies cannot be effected in the. consumption of coal is largely entered into. The employment of small coal in the manufacture of briquettes iis increasing, Welsh briquettes being, la?-gely used by the Eoyal Navy, as they deteriorate less in reserve in hot countries than does coal. High rewards are in store for th-3 discoverer of a suitable: binding material, as the pitch now in use is too smoky for domestic purposes. Coal can be most profitably used as gas, and the schemes for supplying "producers' gas" are reviewed. In any case, there appears to be enough coal to supply any possible demand in Great. Britain for, say, ,500, years..-: And .after : that? The reviewer) ca,ji : only h^ope -thatu "improved methods an^'jaitered: eondi-H tions may defer ind.efiniteiyjtheteyil.dayi; of exhaustion' and ruin.'.',' , .lo.s ! i;