Show AT waste IN THE TO F b USE CF OF COAL views of recognized govera fio veni ment expert NATION HAS LITERALS LITERAL 0 BEEN REARED IN LUXURY after three months in the west chief holmes of the geologic survey finds that one half rall the fuel supply left underground nd forests etc washington dec 31 that the present prodigious waste of the nations nation i natural resources must slop stop at once if we are to fontinie continue Fonti nue to prosper is the warning givenco gi vento the people of the united states by J A holmes chief of the technologic branch of the united states geologic survey who has just returned to 1 washington after a three months I 1 inspect inspection 3 i on trip west I 1 he returns with the statement that in the mining operations of 11 the present time one half of t the total coal supply Is being left lunder ground that water the V most valuable 0 01 all inin mineral cral resources 11 as a source of power is is A being waste day lay after day and year yr after year to the e extent tant of X million ons of h horsepower ewt r and that forest fires krcs have burned more lumber than titan has been p used cd in the I 1 building of homes or in in the industries one of the great national problems is the conserving of the t e fuel resources says Holl holmes nei at the present rate of increase in consumption the better part of the fuel supply of the country will be gone by y the end of the present century unless the proper pro per steps are taken the nation has literally grown up in luxury out of the tile very abundance of hese these resources ve have developed aln an indifference to economy eco nony and the habit of waste we have destroyed our game garc for its hides and horns our forests for their tati tanbark bark or a pittance of the lumber they would yield and meanwhile with indifference we have allowed the forest firca fires to burn a lumber than titan we have ased used in the lne building of homes or in in the industries meanwhile through the destruction of the forests about the sources of important streams and the improper culli cultivation of these estopi lands the fertile soils are washed washa away from the fields where they arc needed and deposited in the streams and harbors of the country from which their continual removal will cost an enormous sum this fertile soil and genial climate have furnished food foi enough for the nation and to spare and anti so luxurious are the habits developed by this dantion of food that it is sometimes said we waste food enough to supply another nation as large is our own water the most valuable of all our mineral resources as a source of ca power iff being wasted day after day a ad ald ld year after nf ter year to the extent of millions of horsepower As the es essential factor in all irrigation work il it is being wasted by use to excess in many instances but on a much larger scale and to the value of 0 hundreds of millions of dollars it it Is being allowed to go to waste year after beav car by not being used at all and in many localities the limited apply of artesian water available for irrigation and 2nd other piuro purposes 0 s s is being wasted on a considerable male wale by being allowed tp to adov aw i continuously 0 when not needed or 11 in excess of actual need other anine mineral ral resources are being wasted on as large a scle scie as is is true of water but their waste is even md more re serious a matter for the reason that the supplies are not re reproduced reduced rod as in the case of water aut but when o 0 exhausted are eab exhausted austed permanently no better illustration of this fact can be found anan is see seen in the deserted mining camps deserted after the min mines have become exhausted thib this waste is preventable and should be prevented for the double reason that these material lb have a commercial and economic value and they arc are destruct destructive iv e of aeija cent vegetation this destruct destruction i 1 on of vegetation allows the rains to evade the bare land anc an deposit the tran transported transporte d sois soil into the adjacent stream the waste in in metal mining and treatment oi of gold silver copper lead 7 zinc inc iron and other metallic ic substances under old time practices w was as frequently as high as from 20 to SO 50 pr cent but the modern mining milling and smelting have of late been developed ai aed along the lines of increased efficiency waste in the utilization of fuels 1 1 a problem that in an es cs recial monr 1 concerns the general public for the reason that the fuel supplies are coming to be regarded like the water and forest as public c utilities they furn furuli wh our heat light and power the k arve berve as the basis of industry and of pf transportation and arc are therefore absolute absolutely fy necess necessary arv to the welfare of the tile nation but notwithstanding ling their vast im importance it is in the tile mining and aid utilization of those fuel resources that we practice tw greatest waste persons now living can recall when the great gas wells were seemingly able ie iz ohio indiana west virginia and pennsylvania in many of these fields this gas supply was wasted in a manner well nigh original and the exhaustion has been so complete that there is no ground for believing that other supplies of gas will be discovered in many of these special regions petroleum in the past has in like manner been wasted both in enormous overflows and the burning of material in the early days of petroleum there was also an in enormous s waste through the failure to save the gasoline and other byproducts which now have great value I 1 coal is now to tile world s greatest fuel wood has been used extensively ten in the past especially espel fally for domestic purposes gus and petroleum continue to have an I 1 extensive local use and in power will play an important part in many portions of the country but the welds great center sand and industries of today and as far as we know of the future must look io to coal at a t 1 amir source of heat power and light notwithstanding the ic cognized importance of coal ite its fining and use are ruh ejected to enormous waita in the mining operations at the present time nearly one otic half of our total coal supply is left underground partly as pillars io to sup pot po t the roof partly as oal of inferior quality only the best part of the coal from the beds being removed in many cases and partly due to the fact thit that the working out of lower beds of jal bal first frequently breaks and rent render lert im rn 1 practicable the subsequent mining of the adjacent higher coal beds of the coal actually used for power develop development m ent ay t not more than 5 per cent IQ i cl converted into actual vork or kethe the remainder being consumed in he the making of steam and and in overcoming 0 the friction and inertia of the engine shafting etc the exhaustion of mineral resources resource 3 is is a permanent permin ent exhaustion one otte years wheat crop when consumed is replaced by that of the succeeding year the forest foreit resources ol 01 of 1 one asod when exhausted under tinder dav favorable ej rable conditions may be replaced cepl ced ty dy a succeeding forest A water supply of one day or of one period under favorable conditions may be eni tidied indefinitely ly 7 na tre tore e ay on n process but aften a deposit cs ef cal coal or ail oi or ir ironer OR w similar min mincel crl substances ibis Us teen c exhausted this hi s exhaust fod is permanent the mineral resources of the country belong to the futta future c as well as to the ent generations of men nien they should b if ed but not wasted the crealo creation of these a deposits osita re rc quires thousands or millions mil c ri ons of years their present sac so called owners had no part in this arc tron tt on of resources resource i and have no real r rights gats to them veyo beyond P pt s q ent urgent need |