THE STORY OF COAL
The Coal Fields of the United States
TWO
When a coal famine is upon us there is a grain of comfort in the reflection that beneath the soil of this country, and within 3,000 feet of the surface, there still lies 3,538,554,000,000 tons of coal. This is the estimate of the United States Geological Survey. We have mined coal wastefully and used it prodigally, yet we have taken from the ground, up to the present time, only a fraction of one per cent. of the total amount at our disposal. The whole of our “coal reserves,” if they could be extracted and placed in a great cubical pile, would form a mass 8.4 miles long, 8.4 miles wide and 8.4 miles high. If the coal thus far mined were piled up in the same way, the cube would be 7,200 feet long, 7,200 feet wide, and 7,200 feet high.[1]
[1] These figures were furnished by Mr. M. R. Campbell, of the U. S. Geological Survey. They differ materially from figures previously published by the Survey.
The coal-producing areas of the country are divided into six great divisions, known as the Eastern Province, the Interior Province, the Gulf Province, the Northern Great Plains Province, the Rocky Mountain Province, and the Pacific Coast Province. The Eastern Province contains probably nine-tenths of the high-rank coal of the country. It is made up of the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, the Atlantic coast region of Virginia and North Carolina, and the great Appalachian region, which embraces all the bituminous and semi-bituminous coal of what is called the “Appalachian trough.” The state of Pennsylvania produces 47 per cent. of all the coal mined in the country, and nearly all of the anthracite.
The Appalachian region is the greatest storehouse of high-rank coal in the United States, if not in the world. “This near-by and almost inexhaustible supply of high-grade fuel,” says the Geological Survey, “has been the foundation of the development of the blast furnaces, the great iron and steel mills, and the countless manufacturing enterprises of the Eastern states.”
The Interior Province includes all the bituminous coal fields and regions near the Great Lakes, in the Mississippi Valley, and in Texas, and is made up of four distinct sections—the northern (Michigan), eastern (Illinois, Indiana and western Kentucky), western (Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas), and southwestern (Texas). The coal of this province is not, in general, of as high a quality as that of the Eastern Province, but it is very extensively mined, and is used for heating and for generating power in the many cities and towns of the Mississippi valley and the Great Lakes region. Indeed, extensive coal fields in proximity to rich agricultural lands have made possible the existence of such manufacturing centers as Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City, and have been a leading factor in the development of the vast railway systems of the Middle West.
The Gulf Province is at present of little commercial importance. Its coal is mined only at a few places in Texas, and is mostly lignite.
The Northern Great Plains Province includes all the coal fields in the Great Plains east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The coals are of low rank, being either lignite or sub-bituminous, except in a few of the basins near the mountains. The largest coal region in this province is the Fort Union region, lying in the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming. The amount of unmined coal in this region is estimated to be twice as great as that lying in the rich Appalachian region, but it has been little worked, as it is generally of poor quality.
The Rocky Mountain Province contains a greater variety of coal than any other province in the United States. It includes all ranks, from lignite to anthracite, but the prevailing ranks are sub-bituminous and low-grade bituminous.
The coal of the Pacific Coast Province is mined chiefly in the state of Washington, where it has aided in developing the industries of the Puget Sound region. Oregon and California have small fields, but the coal is of poor quality, and little mining has been attempted.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 6, No. 6, SERIAL No. 154
COPYRIGHT, 1918. BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
COURTESY BROWN HOISTING MACHINERY CO. CLEVELAND, O.
COAL CAR DUMPER IN OPERATION