6 Cox. 
As is shown by the above analyses and following tests, the 
fuel value of Philippine coal is usually somewhat less than 
that from Australia, but equal to that from Borneo and from 
many Japanese mines, which it strongly resembles. 
Although coal occurs abundantly throughout the Philippine 
Archipelago, it has been used as a fuel from only a very few 
mines. It has been employed on small vessels plying along the 
coast with fairly satisfactory results as regards its steam- 
making properties, but, largely owing to the undeveloped con- 
dition of the mines and the difficulty of transportation, it has 
come into very little competition with the coal imported from 
Japan, Australia, and other points at a great distance... With 
Manila’s good dock facilities, if we had an abundant, available 
supply of good, cheap coal, many commercial industries could 
be developed and increased. 
Complaints of Philippine coal are occasionally heard, but 
usually from individuals with little knowledge of the product 
itself and who have paid less attention to the best means of 
utilizing it. How best to utilize the coal deposits of this country 
is a question which has long attracted attention and at the 
present time, owing to the limited use of Philippine coal, can 
not be considered as solved. Tests of Batan coal from the 
military mines were made on the United States Army Trans- 
ports Chukong, Sacramento, and Palawan in 1904, and the re- 
ports in each case were favorable. The tenor of all was that the 
coal was easily fired, it burned well, the amount of soot was 
comparatively small, there was no great quantity of smoke, 
the ash and refuse content was low, and there was no clinker. 
It was not necessary to clean the fires oftener than once in eight 
hours. 
A trial of the commercial value of coal from the Island of 
Polillo was made at the Philippine Cold Storage and Ice Plant 
in 1906, and complete data of the test were kept.2 The test 
was as satisfactory as possible under the existing conditions; 
the results exceeded the anticipations of those in charge of the 
test and seemed to indicate “its equality with many other coals 
on the Manila market.’ However, the grates were not adapted 
to the fuel and much inconvenience was experienced because 
the decrepitated coal passed through the grate with the ash. 
Toward the end of the test, this ash was burned again, and 
after the second burning the analyses by the Bureau of Science 
*Far Eastern Review (1906), 2, 228. 
