COAL 



849 



The following, from an article on ' Westphalia and the Euhr Basin,' by Mr. T. E. 

 Cliffe Leslie, contains most valuable information : ' 



' Twenty years ago the Kuhr Basin was nowhere in the industrial race ; now it pro- 

 duces nearly half as much coal as the great northern coal-field of England. Twenty 

 years ago it had only just completed a single line of railway ; now the basin is a 

 network of branches, connecting not only the towns, but the principal manufactories 

 and collieries with the three main lines which traverse it. The following figures 

 show the rate at which the production of coal has advanced : 



' The immense increase of production shown in these figures is mainly attributable 

 to the introduction of railways and the low charge for the carriage of coal. Down to 

 1851 the Euhr and the Ehine were the only means of transport in districts beyond 

 the immediate neighbourhood of the collieries, and the greater part of the coal was of 

 an inferior kind, raised where it came to the surface by small collieries along the 

 Euhr. In 1851 the Cologne-Minden Eailway came into use for the transport of coal, 

 and led not only to deep-pit-sinking, and the discovery of seams of superior coal in 

 other parts of the basin, but also to the establishment of ironworks and other manu- 

 factures, affording a local market for the coal. To this local market, down to 1859, 

 it was in a great measure confined. In that year the charge for railway carriage of 

 coal for long distances was reduced to one pfennig per centner (a fifth of a farthing 

 per 100 Ibs.) per German mile, 3 and the above figures show the subsequent increase of 

 production. The railways and coal-mines render each other reciprocal service ; the 

 carriage of Westphalian coal is now one of the most important branches of traffic on 

 several of the chief Prussian lines, and the low rates at which it is carried enable it 

 to find a distant market. The projected reduction of the rate for the transport of iron 

 ore to the same tariff as that for coal, when carried into effect, will greatly augment the 

 market for coal as well as for manufacture of iron. Until the last few years the 

 Euhr Basin excelled only in the manufacture of steel ; but its iron manufactures are 

 now of the highest quality.' 



The Westphalian coal-field is stated to be at least 400 square miles in extent. 

 The number of workable seams are from 60 to 80, and the average thickness 

 of coal is about 200 feet. The coal is of good quality, as the analysis of Essen coal 

 shows : 



Carbon 88-08, hydrogen 5'00, nitrogen 1-39, oxygen 3'12, sulphur 1 06, ashes 1'35 = 100. 



Mr. Consul-General J. A. Crowe, in his ' Eeport on the Trade of the Ehenish 

 Provinces and Westphalia,' gives the following : 



The coal-fields of the Euhr extend over a surface of 115 square miles, and are 

 supposed to contain 40,000,000,000 tons of fuel. They are comprised chiefly in the 

 Government districts of Duisburg, Essen, Bochum, Dortmund, and llamm. The 

 rapid increase of their production may be seen by a glance at the following Table : 



British Tons 



1855 3,252,223 



1856 . . . . . . 3,510,501 



1857 3,635,256 



1858 3,898,502 



1 Fortnightly Review, No. XXVII. March 1, 1869. 



a The Prussian Tonne is a measure of capacity, and varies therefore in weight as applied to different 

 articles coal and iron, for example. The quantity of coal in a Tonne Is about one-fifth of an English 

 ton. In some of the reports in English blue-books the Tonne is translated ' ton/ which may mislead 

 readers. 



* The German mile is about 42 English miles, 



VOL. I. 31 



