COAL,  LIGNITE,  AND  PEAT. 
SURVEY  WORK  ON  COAL  DURING  1905. 
By  Marius  R.  Campbell 
GENERAL   STATEMENT. 
[I  Coal  is  by  fur  the  most  valuable  mineral  product  of  the  United  States.  According  to 
the  statistics  of  production  for  1904,  «  the  four  mineral  products  which  stand  highest  in 
the  list  of  values  air  as  follows: 
Mineral  'products  of  highest  value  in  United  States,  1904- 
Coal $444, 816, 288 
Pig  iron 233, 025, 000 
Copper 105, 629, 845 
Petroleum 101, 170, 466 
Although  in  1904  the  production  of  coal  was  not  quite  equal  to  that  of  the  preceding 
year,  greater  activity  than  in  any  previous  year  was  manifest  throughout  the  country  in 
[prospecting  and  developing  new  fields,  and  in  efforts  to  determine  better  methods  of 
utilization. 
This  was  largely  due  to  the  establishment  of  a  coal-testing  plant  at  St.  Louis,  for  which 
^Congress  appropriated  the  sum  of  $80,000.  The  interest  taken  in  this  work  by  coal  oper- 
ators, coal  consumers,  and  the  general  public  shows  plainly  that  the  people  are  keenly 
alive  to  anything  that  tends  to  the  cheaper  production  and  the  better  utilization  of  the 
fuels  of  the  country. 
The  immediate  results  obtained  during  1904  resulted  in  an  appropriation  for  1905  amount- 
ing to  $202,000  for  the  continuation  of  the  coal-testing  work,  and  incidentally  an  increase 
:was  made  in  the  appropriation  for  geologic  work  of  the  Survey,  with  the  express  provision 
that  this  increase  should  be  used  in  the  investigation  of  the  fuel  resources  of  the  country. 
In  order  to  carry  out  the  intention  of  Congress,  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the 
Director  of  the  United  States  Geolological  Surve}^  to  consider  the  best  methods  of  exploit- 
ing the  fuel  resources  of  the  country,  and  also  methods  for  their  better  utilization. 
This  committee  consists  of  Dr.  C.  W.  Hayes,  geologist  in  charge  of  geology;  Prof.  J.  A. 
Holmes,  superintendent  of  the  coal-testing  plant;  Mr.  E.  W.  Parker,  statistician,  and 
Mr.  M.  R.  Campbell,  geologist.  The  members  of  this  committee  represent  the  varied 
phases  of  fuel  work  carried  on  by  the  Geological  Survey,  and  their  office  is  to  advise  and 
direct  the  work  so  as  to  cover  the  entire  ground  of  geologic  occurrence,  utilization,  and 
statistics  of  production. 
GEOLOGIC  WORK  OF   1905. 
The  geologic  work  on  the  coals  was  placed  under  the  general  direction  of  the  writer,  and 
plans  were  at  once  made  for  the  continuation  of  systematic  detailed  work  in  the  old  and 
well-known  coal  fields  of  the  East  and  of  special  reconnaissance  surveys  in  the  weste -n  fields. 
Pennsylvania. — In  the  eastern  part  of  the  United  States  geologic  work  was  carried  on 
as  usual  in  the  bituminous-coal  field  of  Pennsylvania,  in  cooperation  with  the  State  authori- 
ties.    Under  this  arrangement  three   15-minute  quadrangles,  the   Newcastle,  Claysville, 
0,  Mineral  Resources  U.  S.  for  1904,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1905,  pp.  32,  33. 
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