Coal In The West

The middle States as producers of coal and consequently as makers oi iron have long been con f the rapid dovelopment in Alabuma of coal mininpf and metallurgy, but Lcw persons on llie Atlantic sidé are aware, says the Nêw York Times, of ttio vast Coaliflelds wast of the i[.. os indicated in bulletin No. ■". of the oensns. In 1 ■ -mtity of 1 produced west the Mississippi was set down as tai it e; ■ I d Ki.oiM.öi.Mi tons. The valué of tlie product in ISSO being i:.s2('.T:.'::. laet year it v;: :. : ; ; . ■■ BSe WCVth 815,583,540. In the deca.de, then. augmentation of the product lias been threefold. with tin? qeceSGary decruase of vaíue from 1.98 to S1.52 per ton. In 1880 Xorth Dakota, Texas, New Mexico and Indinn Territory produced QO coal; now they enter into the list as tnining coal. Iowa comea first, with 17'2 regularly established minea and 850 ldcatcd mines, with a total product of 4,ogi,to4 tons, employing 0,200 persons. Kansas and Missouri produce, respectively, 8,280,000 and 3,507,828 to6, and the two give employment to 11,500 people. Colorado makea 2,SC0,530 tons of coal, and 4,64S persons work In the mines. Kansas lias coal meosurea with an area of 10,000 square miles, whieh underlie the entire eastern portion of the state. Coal is known to exiri in twenty cotraties, but operations are so far Limited to six of thom. Half oí Iowa is underlaid ivitli eoal well adapted for stcam and heating purposes. It is the possibilities of Texas as a eoal producinj1 state which are of interest. There seem to be good reasons for bclieving that her coal measures have an area of 12,000 square miles. So far her produetion has been small - about 128,000 tons in 1889. In California the best source of coal is in the Jlount Diablo district and Coos Bay, but the output from all mines has been small - 121,820 tons. The consumption of coal in California havingf been at present about 1,861,976 tons, Australia and Japan furnish 403,372 tons, liritish Columbia 417, 'J04, and Washington 372,514 tons. It is in Washington that there arises tne not too sanguine hope that in a short time she will produce all the coal wanted in California. The total area of the coal deposit at Washington has not yt been determined, but Mr. J. II. Jones, with the special agent in charge of the división of mines and mining, believes "there is no doubt that almost ine:chaustible supplies are ;it hand not only for the future demand of its own populatian but suffieient to furniafa u basis of profitable trafnc for transportation to the entire Pacific coast." In 18S0 the Washington product of coal was close to 1,000,000 of tons.