July 15, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



71 



spite of the desire of every operator to im- 

 prove them. 



Even when the demand for coal and the 

 prices are at their best, under existing 

 conditions the operator can mine only that 

 part of his coal which can be taken out 

 most cheaply and sold at the higher 

 prices ; and the remainder must be left 

 underground in such shape as may pre- 

 clude its future recovery. And thus we 

 waste nearly 7,000,000 to 10,000,000 tons 

 of coal in Alabama, and more than 250,- 

 000,000 tons of the nation's fuel supply. 



But great as is this waste or loss of coal 

 in mining, still greater is the loss in use of 

 coal that is consumed in our furnaces. In 

 the average power plant of to-day, less 

 than ten per cent, of the energy of the coal 

 is converted into actual work; the other 

 90 per cent, being used up in the furnace, 

 the boiler, the engine and the shafting. 

 "Worse still, of the coal burned in produc- 

 ing the electric lights of this university — 

 less than one per cent, of its energy is 

 transformed into light; the other, more 

 than 99 per cent, of the total energy being 

 used up in the different steps of the trans- 

 formation from coal into light. 



The American mine owner is as humane 

 as is the mine owner of any other country, 

 and he would like to follow every practise 

 and use every appliance for safety to be 

 found in Great Britain, France, Belgium, 

 Germany or elsewhere, but he pays his 

 miners higher wages, and at the same time 

 he receives for his coal at the mines half 

 the price received for similar coal by the 

 mine owners in those countries. 



The coal industry needs and deserves 

 fair treatment at the hands of the Ameri- 

 can people ; and upon its receipt of such 

 treatment depends in- large measure not 

 only the welfare of the operators, but also 

 the welfare of the 700,000 miners who 

 daily risk their lives in supplying the fuel 



for the nation's comfort and convenience, 

 and the welfare of the industry itself as an 

 essential part of our future state and na- 

 tional development. 



In all investigations for the betterment 

 of the mining industry, there should be 

 hearty cooperation between the federal 

 government dealing with the broad general 

 problems of value to the entire country, 

 the states dealing with problems more or 

 less local to themselves and the private 

 corporations dealing with still more local 

 or individual problems. Thus we shall 

 have greatest efficiency, and largest results, 

 at least cost. 



MINERAL RESOURCES BUILD UP AND PERPET- 

 UATE MANUFACTURES AND 

 AGRICULTURE 



I am emphasizing these conditions con- 

 cerning the mining of coal, because we all 

 recognize the fact that the coal and iron in- 

 dustries of the country serve as a basis of 

 our manufacturing and other varied indus- 

 tries. They also serve as a basis for our 

 transportation facilities. These in turn 

 furnish the markets for our surplus agri- 

 cultural products. For a long time in 

 Alabama and in the United States, agri- 

 culture was, and indeed it continues to be, 

 the chief of all the great foundation in- 

 dustries ; but the exportation of food prod- 

 ucts from the United States is diminishing, 

 and in a few decades more the growth of 

 our mining population and the population 

 connected with manufactures based on our 

 mineral industries, will be sufficient to con- 

 sume and manufacture at home the agri- 

 cultural products of the continent. 



But I want to call your attention to one 

 other important phase of the mineral in- 

 dustries of the country as a basis of our 

 agricultural and general prosperity. "With 

 all of Dr. Smith's enterprise and ability, 

 he has not yet discovered within the limits 



