90 
TEW: EXTENSION OF MINING OPERATIONS. 
some remarks upon the g-eological aspects of Mining in this division 
of West Yorkshire. 
When the Yorkshire Geological vSociety was first formed, in 
1836, the coal measures of Osgoldcross were hardly known. A 
little surface coal called " Crow Coal," or " Wheatwood Coal," 
about Glass Houghton, was scratched up by "Diggers of Cole," 
as John Dee, in 1570, described this new art of getting coal. And 
of the rest of Yorkshire, even to those eng-aged in mining works, 
the coal measm^es were only guessed at, pretty much as rare old 
Leland mentions them in 1535 : — " Though here be plenti of wood, 
" yet the people burne much y earth cole by cawse hit is plentifull, 
" and sold good chepe." Deep mining was not yet possible. 
Whatever Leland's " Yearth Cole" was, or the substance used 
in 1535, and subsequently as ' fuel," as Newcastle coal used to be 
called, no one but he who lived into the 19th century, and who 
can now estimate the full consequence of the agency of coal in 
the extension of the Kailway, Steam Vessels, and Steam -transport 
systems could grasp the mighty fact, that the " Mineralized Vege- 
" table matter," which Chemists tell us is composed of "carbon, 
"hydrogen and nitrogen," could give such impetus to the energy 
and industry of the people of England, and an enlightened policy 
in favour of commerce and manufactures. By this " Much Yearth 
Cole, by cawse hit is plentifull, and sold g-ood chepe," has the 
commercial prosperity of the West Riding been built up. 
The output in 1868, the return quoted when the Society was 
here in 1869, was over 103 millions of tons of coal ; it is stated for 
the year 1880 to be over 140 millions of tons ; whilst our Steam 
Navy, which in 1860 used half a million tons, in 1880 needed more 
than two and a half millions of tons — twice as much as all the 
other Steam Merchant Navies of the world combined. 
This is the silver age of discoveries, and the golden ag-e of 
Mechanics ; and the unmatched progress of this country has been 
due to the natural energy of the race of Englishmen, and the 
