192 O. P. AUSTIN 



anthracite was almost as great as that manufactured from 

 bituminous, there being 1,808,000 tons of iron made from 

 anthracite as compared to 1,950,000 tons made from bitu- 

 minous; while in still earlier periods — in 1855, for instance 

 — there was six times as much iron made from anthracite 

 as from bituminous. This state of affairs, however, has 

 completely changed, especially since the recent great advances 

 in iron and steel manufacture; and while the amount of iron 

 manufactured from anthracite coal has declined to 1,348,000 

 tons, the amount manufactured from bituminous coal has 

 increased to 12,007,000. This vast increase has naturally 

 led to a rapid increase in the exploitation of the bituminous 

 mines and to a corresponding mining activity in the respec- 

 tive regions. 



This change has been largely due to the use of coke. The 

 development of the coking industry in the United States 

 has been remarkable in every sense of the word. Certain 

 coals of the United States, especially those in the Connells- 

 ville region in western Pennsylvania, are remarkable for 

 their coking qualities, and the development of the art of 

 coking has been rapid and complete. 



The concentration of coal production in the east, while 

 the population is moving so rapidly to the west, has pre- 

 sented the problem of coal transportation, which, owing to 

 the immense bulk of the article, is one of the most difficult 

 of all articles to transport. The movement of coal in this 

 country has mainly been from the east to the west, and the 

 question of transportation from the mines in the middle 

 states, not only westward to the utmost confines of popula- 

 tion in the western states, but also, although to a less extent, 

 to New England and the eastern part of Canada, presents 

 difficulties which have taxed to the utmost the transporta- 

 tion systems of the country. The movement westward 

 has been effected both by rail and lake as well as by river. 



