i88 0. P. AUSTIN 



and 18 per cent of the world's production respectively. The 

 next half decennial period witnessed a remarkable increase 

 in the American production and a corresponding relative 

 decrease in that of Great Britain, the proportion of these coun- 

 tries being 36, 28, and 17 per cent, respectively. This in- 

 crease was maintained during the last decade, and in 1902 

 the output of Great Britain and Ireland was less than that 

 of the United States. 



These statistics clearly show that the United Kingdom 

 has lost its former pre-eminence as a coal producing power, 

 and that while its production is increasing rapidly, its absolute 

 increase is less than that of the United States, and its relative 

 or proportional increase considerably less than that of either 

 the United States or Germany. 



The beginning of coal production in the United States 

 dates back only to the first quarter of the 19th century, 

 although the existence of coal was noticed by the early ex- 

 plorers at the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the 

 eighteenth century. The Virginia deposits near Richmond, 

 first noticed in 1701, were the first mines to be regularly 

 worked in this country. Mining was begun there about the 

 year 1750, and the coal was sold at Richmond in 1766 for 24 

 cents per bushel, and at Philadelphia in 1789 for 37 cents 

 per bushel of 76 pounds. In 1822 the amount of coal mined 

 in this region was 48,214 long tons; in 1833, 142,578 long 

 tons. About the year 1820 the development of the anthracite 

 coal regions began. Owing to the fact that the companies 

 which first produced this coal were also building the first 

 canals and railways, the growth of the anthracite coal trade 

 proceeded more rapidly than that of bituminous coal. Until 

 about 1870 the production of anthracite was greater than 

 that of bituminous coal. Thus for the year 1860 the output 

 of bituminous coal is estimated by the United States geo- 

 logical survey at 8,000,000 long tons, while the combined 

 production of the Pennsylvania anthracite regions exceeded 

 8,500,000 tons, and for the year 1864 the average price of 

 bituminous coal at New York was almost $1 per ton higher 

 than that of anthracite — $7.68 as against $6.75. 



It was not until coal began to be used extensively in 



