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16 COAL AND TIMBER June, 1905
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY
COAL AND TIMBER PUBLISHING CO.
ARROTT BUILDING, PITTSBURG, PA.
Telephone—Bell, Court 2388; P. & A., Main 1790.
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Communications relative to news of coal and timber
lands, mines, shipments, equipment, etc., as well
as items of interest concerning owners, operators.
shippers, and officials, are invited and should be addressed
to
EDITOR OH COAI, AND TIMBER.
Checks, drafts, remittances and all matters pertaining
to the business department should be addressed
to
COAI, AND TIMBER PUBLISHING COMPANY.
RUSH T JONES, Editor.
M. G. LEIBIN. Business Manager
PITTSBURG, JUNE, 1905
THE RIVER'S
ROMANCE.
Miss O-hi-o,
From Fort Pitt's shore
To Cairo in the West,
Shed many tears
For years and years
Nor took she 3113- rest.
With might and main.
She cried in vain,
Until her wet eyes swam;
The more she tore, •
Old Congress swore
He would not give a "dam."
But now at last,
Their quarrel past,
They quaff the loving-cup,
But Congress swears
When she's on tears
He's here to "lock" her up!
—McRome Howell.
THE MENACE OF FIRE.
Forests unscathed by the axe of the woodsman
are ever menaced by an even more destructive
agency—the demon fire. Spring
and fall are the seasons of the year when
this destructive element is unusually active.
Thus early in the year the daily print
has contained several news dispatches telling
of destructive fires which have laid
waste thousands of acres of forest lands.
Thus at one fell swoop appalling financial
losses have been entailed. But it is the
same old story and so escapes the notice
of the thoughtful who, were such events
as forest fires unusual, would give heed and
probably think out some effective remedy.
The frequency of forest fires is such, when
the comparative small acreage of timber
is considered, that the Nation should, without
further delay, work out a method of
protection at once adequate and effective.
Forests should be protected, not alone from
indiscriminate destruction by the unprincipled
woodsman, but from the devouring
flames wdiich level in a few hours the invaluable
growths of a century. The wanton
aggressions on timber lands are not one
whit more evil in their consequences than
the criminal indifference and carelessness
in the protection of the uncut forests. The
Federal government IIMIS wise laws for the
preservation of the forests on government
reservations, and each state in the Union
should provide as well. The lessons taught
by the tremendous destruction of woodlands
by tires should not pass unheeded. Something
practical should be done and done at
once. The amount of forest in this country
at present is so small in view of the great
demands made upon it that not a moment
should be lost in framing wise laws and in
enforcing them to the end that what forests
we now have should be as free as possible
from the menace of the fire fiend. Forest
lands should be as safe from the match of
the smoker as a department store or factory.
Police protection of some sort should
be provided, and every large forest should
have its head keeper who should be assisted
in his work of patrolling the domain by a
large force of assistants. While there is
yet time the remedy should be applied and
it should be such that it would be availing
for the purpose for wdiich it is designed.
AMERICA LEADS THE
WORLD.
In the production of coal, pig iron, copper
and petroleum the United States leads
the entire world. Is it any matter of wonder
then that this Nation commands the
supremacy, industrial and commercial? The
wonderful development of this favored land
during the.past quarter century is readily
explainable when its unfathomable mineral
resources are considered. Twenty-live years
ago the truth of America's almost boundless
wealth became partially known, and
since then development on a grander and
more colossal scale than ever dreamed of
followed. The wealth of the Nation grew
marvelously, until to-day the young republic
is the richest and most favored land
upon which the sun shines.
In 1903 the United States mined 319,-
068. 228 tons of coal while in 1880 but 67,-
998,164 tons were taken from the bowels of
the earth. The entire coal production of
the world in 1903 was 866,071.428 tons. In
18X1) the entiic world produced but 329,- to depend more and more upon the United
e^ic,,7?i2 tons, or but very little more than States for tlieir supply. That will make the
was taken from the earth in this country United States the creditor nation of the
alone in 1903. In 19(13 the United States earth, ;i position long held to such great
mined i7 per cent, of the entire coal output
of the globe. What will be the position
among the nations of this young
country
the next decade no man can fathom.
That America occupies the first place
among the family of nations there can be
no surprise or mystery. With all of the
advantages of nature at hand and with men
alert to our best possibilities our remarkable
development was bound to follow. The
commerce of the United States increased
from $1,500,000,000 in 1880 to $2,500,-
000,000 in 1904. while the commerce of the
world increased from $15,000,000,000 in 1880
to $22,000,000,000 in 1904. The relative increase
made by the United States has been
far ahead of that of any other nation of the
earth.
The relative growth in the production of
coal in the United States and the entire
world from 1880 to 1903 has been: coal,
United States 251,000.000 tons, entire world
536,000.000 tons. Last year the United
States produced almost 270,000,000 tons of
coal. This country now mines more than
100.000,000 tons of coal in excess of that
mined by Great Britain. Up until 1899
Great Britain mined more coal than did this
country.
Six hundred thousand men and boys are
employed in the mining industry in this
country. The value of the coal wdiich they
mine is. at the pit mouth, about $520,000,000.
and by the time this fuel reaches the consumer
it amounts in value to approximately
$2,000,000,000. Of the coal which was
mined last year about 80.000,000 tons were
anthracite and 300.000,000 tons were bituminous
and lignite. In 1850 6.445,681 tons
of coal were mined in the LInited States,
while the total production in this country in
1903 was 319,068,228 tons.
The development of the great coal areas
of this country will continue for years untold.
The coal supply of the nations of
Europe is all in sight and it will be merely
a matter of years until it has been exhausted.
That day will come long before
the supply in this country has even been
determined to a nicety. The commanding
position which the United States now holds
among the family of nations of the earth
is bound to grow in dignity and might. Even
now Europe is largely dependent upon this
country for its supply of bread stuffs, and
it will be equally dependent upon its supply
of steaming fuel in a very short time.
The shipment of coal to Europe is significant.
More and more will the old world
draw upon the new for fuel, and the other
essentials of life.
.America's future is something wdiich passes
the prophetic ken of man. It can be
measured by its resources when compared
with the impoverished store held by the
older nations of the earth. As their stock
of necessaries diminishes they will come
advantage by Great Britain.
Even now the
United States is selling more than it buys.