36S 



Report of the Coal Commitlee, 



Palamow. 



Mr. Tytler, an engineer employed under the Controller of Steamers, 

 having been deputed, under the authority of the Marine Board, to 

 Palamow, describes a bed of coal six feet thick, exposed to a great 

 extent on the banks of the Amanath river, where Mr. Homfray a short 

 time before could only find a 3| feet bed, so interrupted by ravines as 

 to render the field very limited. There is however evidence enough in 

 the reports of Major Sage, and Mr. Tytler, as well as in the information 

 furnished to Mr. Ravenshaw, the Commissioner of Patna, to show that 

 coal is here abundant enough, the only doubt is as to its quality. The 

 samples of Palamow coal that we have seen have been vitiated by the 

 inexperience of the miners with an intermixture of shale, so as to ren- 

 der them unfit for trial. Major Sage, Executive Engineer, Dinapore, 

 States that he had formerly been in the habit of receiving supplies of 

 coal from Palamow, which he considered a good and useful fuel. We 

 have no doubt that a good coal may be procurable in Palamow, but 

 such samples as have been hitherto sent to Calcutta for trial have been 

 inferior, partly no doubt from their having been ill chosen from the 

 numerous beds that seem to occur in that district. Major Sage found 

 the following results from comparative experiments instituted between 

 Palamow and Burdwan coal, from which it would appear that the 

 former has the advantage in point of quality. 



Palamow, Burdwan, 



Coke, 46 2 40 2 



Volatile matter, ... 47 0 40 0 



Earthy matter, ... 6 8 ... 13 8 



100 0 100 0 



In experiments of this kind on a small scale, et^ery thing depends on 

 the specimens selected for comparison. The Burdwan coal varies in 

 quality in different mines, just as Palamow coal would vary if mines 

 were once fairly established in that district. 



The best Burdwan coal we can induce the contractor who supplies 

 the laboratory of the Honorable Company's Dispensary to furnish, 

 aflfords 25 per cent, of ashes, but the kind used on board steamers is 

 said to be very superior to this, and the Ranygunge variety with which 

 other coals are compared, is the best in Burdwan. Much judgment is 

 therefore necessary in selecting samples for trial from new coal districts, 

 when the object is to compare them with Burdwan coal. Whatever 



