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Show America's Inexhaustible Coal Supply. To get an idea of the probably inexhaustible inex-haustible coal supply, compare Aiuer-: iea with England. Some years ago an investigation was made to ascertain how long the supply of coal would last in that country. The drain upon the mines there is not alone for the manufacturing manu-facturing in Sheffield, Manchester, London Lon-don and the other cities, but English coal is exported to far away countries. In 1874 the output of the mines of the world was 200,000,000 tons, of which England furnished 125,000,000 tons, or about one-half. Investigation Investiga-tion showed that the supply, within 4,000 feet of the surface which was available, was so great that at this average av-erage of 125,000,000 tons a year it would not be exhausted for 1,120 years. England has a coal area of 12,000 square miles, while in the United States the area is 120,000, or ten times as-great. as-great. Consequently, if one-half the output for the world were to come from mines in this country at the rate of consumption when the investigation was made the supply would last 11,200 years. But it has been found that as the world grows the consumption of coal increases in a geometric ratio, so that this period cannot be counted on as the time when the supply will be exhausted. exhaust-ed. It is enough to say that the supply sup-ply in the United States is practically Inexhaustible, and that as a coal producing pro-ducing country the United States is without a rival. Interview in New York Times. |