324 The Supply and Waste of Goal. 



hardness or tenderness of the coal, and the nature of the roof 

 and floor. On these columns rest the whole weight of the 

 superincumbent rocks — a pressure of a hundred tons to the square 

 foot when the depth is 1000 feet, as is the case in some deep 

 mines. It may well be supposed that this vast weight crushes 

 the coal, and makes it tender. It does not pay to bring up 

 coal-dust to the surface, and thus a large quantity is left be- 

 hind, besides large parts of the columns that cannot safely be 

 removed. In tender coals the quantity thus lost is very large ; 

 the presence of large heaps of small coal, which are often seen 

 burning at the pit mouth, testifies to another cause of waste in- 

 cident to tender coals, which lose much each time they are 

 turned over. 



But these are not the worst causes of waste ; there are two 

 others little thought of, but far more serious. The most im- 

 portant is this : thin and poor seams are neglected and de- 

 stroyed, in order that somewhat better seams a little below may 

 be got first. There could be little objection to this if the seams 

 thus neglected were left uninjured ; but this is simply impos- 

 sible. The descent of the overtying masses into the place of 

 coal worked out always and necessarily involves crushing and 

 fracture of the overlying beds. The coal may not always be, 

 though it often is, broken and rendered powdery, but fissures 

 are opened communicating with, the old works, gas and water 

 are introduced, and the seam is partially destroyed. When we 

 see excellent coals three or four feet thick thus utterly and 

 hopelessly destroyed, we are justified in raising a warning cry. 

 This extravagance cannot but have a terrible result; but no 

 one calculates the extent of this loss. To gain a shilling a ton 

 royalty on the coal worked, the proprietor will sacrifice the 

 future interests of his family and the leaseholder his chances 

 of future profits, and thus, where there are twenty feet of 

 workable coal less than ten will be obtained. 



The method of working also involves, in many cases, very 

 serious loss ; where the coal is thick, and the roof and floor poor 

 or bad, -much coal will be left both above and below, and, of 

 course, the whole of this is utterly lost. The large pillars of 

 coal have been alreadymentioned as producing waste, and the 

 utter absence of mining records in most districts where coal is 

 worked, render it so dangerous to approach old workings that 

 thick ribs of good coal are often left between properties, and 

 where the properties are small the proportion thus lost is not 

 trifling. 



Lastly : there is waste so serious and so preventible in the 

 use of coal when brought out of the mine that, in this matter 

 alone, a saving might be effected which would, perhaps, double 

 the time that coal will last in this country. The waste of coal 



