438 
ROWLEY : OUR COAL RESOURCES. 
1 to 12, that is to say, our coalfields form one-twelftli of the area 
of the country, a proportion far exceeding that of any other 
country in the world. In deahng with, our available resources 
one of the great factors to take into consideration is tlie depth 
at which coal will be able to be worked, and on this point a 
great deal of valuable evidence has been published by the Coal 
Commission now sitting. The deepest coal workings in the 
country are those of Pendleton, near Manchester, at 3,483 feet 
deep, where the temperature of the rocks has been measured 
at 100° F., ^^dtll a temperature in the roads of 87°, and before 
our deepest coal seams can be worked science will have to come 
to our aid with some practical and still economical way of cool- 
ing down the workings. There will be no engineering difficulty 
in windincr the coal from these great depths — the limit is a 
question of increase in temperature only. Then with regard 
to the workable thickness of coal seams. The evidence already 
given show^s us that seams of coal 10 inches in thickness are 
being worked in some parts of the country, while seams of 12 
inches to 18 inches are so common as to excite little comment, 
so that in estimating our resources all seams down to 1 foot in 
thickness may be considered practically workpvble. The most 
important point in regard to our coal resources, in my opinion, 
is that of waste in working. It has been my lot to inspect 
the workings of many large collieries, and there is undoubtedly 
ample room for improvement as regards methods of working. 
At many large collieries it is the custom to bring out only a 
small proportion of the small coal, especially in \^'ales, but 
surely this waste should be a subject almost calling for Govern- 
ment interference. Then, again, in districts where the coal 
seams lie close together, it is a common thing to see one seam 
utterly spoilt in order that the best and most valuable may be 
worked first, and in these cases it is my opinion that the working 
of the seam should be abandoned, instead of working it to the 
serious detriment of the others, and that at a time when coal 
from other seams which are economically worked is plentiful. 
To geologists, no doubt, the question of our coal resources appeals 
chiefly from the point of view of our hidden resources, and in 
tliis resj^ect no coalfield has such prospects as the Great Midland 
