Our Coal Resources. By Edward Hull, LL.D. (E. and F.
N. Spon.)—Many of our readers will remember the panic about the imminent exhaustion of our coal-supplylwhich prevailed some years ago. It lasted long enough to make some people's. fortunes. It is well to be fully informed on the matter, and Dr. Hull, whose work on the " Coalfields of Great Britain " has had a great success, has done well in giving in the present. volume a detailed statement. We shall give some of his most important figures, at the same time recommending our readers to acquaint themselves with the processes by which they are reached. The contents of the English coalfields and the resources which will be available at the end of the century are stated as follows (curiously enough, the year 1899 is given as the end of
the century) :— Tons.
"North Staffordshire ..• ••• 3,214,684,000 South Staffordshire... 716,000 000 Leicestershire ... 303,075,000 Warwickshire 407.775,000 Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Notts 15,620,702,000 Durham and Northumberland ... 4,668,502,000 Cumberland ... 320,622,000 Lancashire and East Cheshire . 4,872,121,000 Coalbrook Dale ... 12,501,000 Forest of Wyre 10,000,000 Bristol and Somerset 1,982.595,000 Forest of Dean ... 244,000,000 South Wales... 16,172,583,000 Denbigh ... 1,257,000,000 Flintahire 678,000,000 Scottish Coalfields ... 7,807,640,000
58,287,700,000 "
(Dr. Hull's figures in the detailed accounts do not always agree with his summary.) The output for 1896 was 195,361,260 tons. Dividing this into the total given above, we get a quotient of about 300 years. This, of course, supposes a constant rate of working. As a matter of fact, the output has increased from 110,000,000 in 1870 to 195,000,000 in 1896. What may happen in the future is beyond all powers of foresight ; but we know what we have got. The estimated resources of Germany are about doubler as much. The average price of coal at the pit's mouth sank from Os. 3d. in 1892 to 6s. led. in 1895.
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