china's petrified sun-rays 49 



rocks in China than in any other country of its size. This 

 does not, of course, mean that actual coal is to be found in 

 absolute profusion since the carboniferous series is very thick 

 and the actually exposed surface may be below the coal or at 

 a prohibitive height above it. Furthermore, while coal seems 

 to have been found where the strata are accessible in some- 

 what similar thicknesses (perhaps aggregating to 20 ft. or 

 even more), in any one locality it may be in very thin beds, 

 have been destroyed by exposure or heat, or contain so much 

 inert matter as to render it of little value. 



Nevertheless, it is quite certain that the actually work- 

 able deposits in China are such as to warrant the opinion that 

 the industrial importance of China or any adjacent country 

 which can command China's coal supply can become of the 

 very first order. 



In spite of all common assertions and belief to> the con- 

 trary, man is not really interested in events which may occur 

 at a distance in time not personally affecting grand children. 

 In the speaker's opinion this question of China's coal supply 

 is one which will actually develope within a short time. 

 The oldest men, whom middle aged men now clearly remem- 

 ber, saw the rise of the coal era in Europe and America. 

 The young men now living may actually see China, one of, 

 if not the first of, the leading industrial countries of the 

 world. 



As you are probably aware there is a strong movement 

 afoot for making Shanghai an ocean terminal for first class 

 shipping. This will be very difficult, unless there are ample 

 supplies of cheap coal for bunkering. At present Shanghai 

 imports about a million and a quarter tons of coal per annum, 

 about half Japanese and half Chinese (mainly Kaiping coal) 

 of which one quarter of a million is used for bunkering. 

 With fully developed shipping, at least a million tons per 

 annum will be required for bunkering alone. Over two* 

 hundred thousand tons of coal per annum are transformed 

 in the Shanghai power stations and this will easily increase to 

 half a million as industrial development continue. Further 

 population and the increased use of coal by the Chinese will 

 make further demands so that there is nothing unreasonable 

 in supposing that within a very few years Shanghai alone will 

 need some three million tons of coal per annum. Japanese 

 sources are limited, the price of Japanese coal is high and 

 will rise if exchange falls, and there is five hundred miles of 

 transport. Kaiping coal which now totals upwards of four 

 million tons per annum may, perhaps, meet the demand, but 

 it must be remembered that the distance is great and there 

 will be an increasing call for that coal elsewhere as well. 



4 



