92 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



of the outcrops, but in fields sucli as the Bering field, where the struc- 

 ture is complex, such estimates are of little value and, in fact, they may- 

 be harmful. The figures are likely to be overemphasized and even mis- 

 used by those who are endeavoring to interest the investing public. In 

 much of the Bering field the rocks are folded, faulted, jointed and 

 cruf?hed, the coal beds are known to vary much in thickness within short 

 distances along both the strike and the dip, the coal beds in several 

 places may be seen to change somewhat abruptly into carbonaceous 

 shale, and in places they are intruded by igneous rocks. As yet, the 

 beds in the different parts of the field have not been correlated, nor is 

 it possible to state the number of beds which are workable. Moreover, 

 when it is recalled that gas is present in the coals, that the region is one 

 of great rainfall, that the snowfall is heavy, that the coals are in many 

 places friable, that many difficulties and large expenditures are con- 

 nected with the problem of railroad construction and the providing of 

 docking facilities, one begins to realize how necessary it is to give full 

 weight to these facts in reaching a conclusion as to the value of the 

 field. 



The opening up of this field would be a great boon to Alaska and to the 

 states of the Pacific coast. The government should do all in its power to 

 hasten its development. In cases where the evidence shows that the 

 entrymen have conformed with the law, the patents should be issued 

 without delay. Moreover, the present unsatisfactory laws should be 

 revised. The laws should be such that development will be encouraged 

 not discourage^. Not until large sums of money have been invested in 

 this field will it be possible to mine and ship the coal on a commercial 

 scale. 



