foiled / &G [Reprinted from Economic Geology, Vol. XV No 4 June 1920 ] iEDtOGY NOTES ON THE COAL INDUSTRY OF NORTH- EASTERN FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE SAAR, AND WESTPHALIA, 1904-1913. THE COAL INDUSTRY OF NORTHEASTERN FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE SAAR DISTRICT AND WESTPHALIA FOR THE PRE-WAR DECADE, I904-I9 13. H. F. Crooks. Introduction . The following notes represent a summary of data on the coal mining industries of northeastern France, Belgium, the Saar District, and Westphalia, collected by the writer and others to- gether with similar data on iron ore, from French, German, and Belgian sources in Paris, and embodied in a report to the Amer- ican Commission to Negotiate Peace, by Alfred H. Brooks and M. F. La Croix. 1 (See Fig. 35.) It is not contended that any of these data are new, but they represent a digest of data scattered through eight hundred re- ports, and they have not been similarly assembled heretofore in the French, German, or English literature. To realize fully the vital importance of the coal industries to the countries in ques- 1 Brooks, Lt. Col. A. H., Engrs. U. S. A., La Croix, Maj. M. F. “Reports on the Iron, Steel, and Associated Industries of Lorraine, the Saar District, Luxembourg, and Belgium.” American Commission to Negotiate Peace, War Damages Board, Section of Mines and Metallurgy, Paris, April 15, 1919. 277 ...5' W' 3$' #hm.o«c 278 H. F. CROOKS. Fig. 35. Bituminous coal basins of northern France, Saar, Westphalia, and Belgium. 279 C cL Anthracite j I Anthra- V cite 1 (U.S.) (F) France; (B) Belgium. Labor . — The French introduced foreign labor, for the most part Italians and Germans, and while no statistics are at hand to indicate the per cent., it is said 3 that they represent about forty per cent, of the total (203,306) mine laborers. The average annual wage for all classes of employees in 1913 was 1,452 francs, which for three hundred working days in the year gives 4.99 francs per day. The average annual production per individual in 1913, for all of France, was 199 metric tons. The number of concessions exploited in France decreased from a Commandant Edgar Parlongue, Belgian Army. (Oral statement to writer.) NOTES ON COAL INDUSTRY. 285 290 in 1904 to 245 in 1913, due to exhaustion of reserves and to lack of demand for coal of the quality mined. The average annual production per individual increased from 199 tons in 1964 to 203 tons in 1912, then dropped to 197 tons in 1913; the fluc- tuation being due to variations of supply and demand rather than to decreased individual efficiency. Production , Costs, and Profits . — In 1913, 326,347 hectares of concessions were being worked by 232 mines; of these, 138 showed a total net profit of 74,528,050 francs, while 94 showed a loss of 27,578,050 francs. In Table III. the average selling price per ton at the mine is taken as the value quoted by the Coal Exchange (Carreau des Mines). TABLE III. Cost, Average Selling Price, and Profit of Coal (1912 and 1913). Francs. 19x2 Per Cent, of Av. Selling Price. Francs. I 9 1 3 Per Cent, of Av. Selling Price. Total cost 14.42 92.71 15.38 92.26 Selling price at mine IS.SI 100.00 16.55 100.00 Profit I.09 7.29 1. 17 7-74 Production of Coal . — The increase in production between 1904 and 1913 of only seven million metric tons serves in a measure to indicate not only the intensiveness of mining operations but the poverty of France in coal. It is this poverty, which, in view of her extensive metallurgical industries, casued an increase for the decade to imports of nine million tons in 1913, equalling about 50 per cent, of the production for that year. (See Fig. 37.) TABLE IV. French Coal Production (Metric Tons). Year. 1 No. Mines. Total ' Production. Mean Value per Ton (Francs). Nord. Pas de Calais Rest. France. 1904 290 5 . 905.900 15,812,400 11,784,100 33 , 502,400 13.30 1907 276 6,362,900 17,216,400 12,409,600 35 . 988,900 14.97 1909 254 6,522,200 18,409,400 12,184,300 37 , 115,900 15-22 1911 258 6,646,900 19 , 493,000 12,380,900 38,520,800 15.24 1913 1 232 6,814,000 20,575,000 13 . 455.000 40,051,000 I 6 . 55 4 4 The cost of mining for 1913 was 13.19 francs. 286 H. F. CROOKS. Imports and Exports . — French exports of coal are very small due to her own needs; they average about 1,500,000 metric tons per year for the decade. Imports represent about fifty per cent, of the annual produc- tion, with England and Belgium as the principal sources. The metallurgic industries of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais basins are supplied from local sources, but those of Lorraine rely almost entirely on coal and coke imported from Belgium, the Saar dis- trict, and Westphalia; the large English imports being used for the littoral metallurgic plants, and for other industrial and do- mestic purposes. With the acquisition of the Saar coal fields these imports will be reduced somewhat; however, for Lorraine iron ore, Westphalian coke must always be mixed with that of the Saar for smelting purposes, so it is seen that the reduction will not be important. TABLE V. Sources of Coal Used in France (Metric Tons). 1904. 1910, I 9 I 3 - Total French production 33,502,400 37,634,900 40,051,000 Imports from Germany 2,420,000 4,577,000 6,673,700 “ “ Belgium 4,953,000 5,382,000 4 , 397,500 “ England 7,183,000 9,919,000 11,270,000 “ “ Other countries 6,000 14,000 452,600 Total imports 14,562,000 19,892,000 22,793,800 Total French consumption 47,030,000 56,530,000 61,458,200 Reserves . — The coal reserves of France as given by Defline 5 are the only figures available, and unfortunately they do not sep- arate the northeastern area into basins. However, it is known that the reserves of the Bassin du Pas-de-Calais far exceed those of the Nord in all grades as well as in coking coal’ reserves. The larger area of reserves are along the southern borders of the basins. Estimates of the Pont-a-Mousson basin show probable reserves of 300,000,000 tons of coal of over seventeen per cent, volatile matter content. Development of this area will increase this figure somewhat. Table VI. shows that 91 per cent, of long 5 Defline, M., “ Coal Resources of the World.” 12th Int. Geol. Congress, Toronto, 1913. NOTES ON COAL INDUSTRY. 287 flame coal reserves, 94 per cent, of coking coal reserves, and 90 per cent, of the semi-bituminous and anthracite reserves are con- 6 0 ✓ Mill O Met To ions f ( >“— — < s ns 0 > — y 6onsu raptio n 1 r' 4 0 Produ .ction a 0 2 0 Tota 1 Imp ■orts^ / 1 0 Impo •rts f rom E nglan d t 1 1 T Imports from Belgium > 0 ^ — 1 * — , i "4-- Imports from Germany 1 1 1— — 1 ) o <7> 10 o <3> ■ 1 . l ^ 11 g° US Charbons demi-gras contain 11-16% V.M.=Semi-bitumJ Charbons maigres contain less than . . . 11% V.M.=Anthracite Labor . — Most of the laborers in the Belgian coal fields are Belgian, thus contrasting with the German and French practice in the use of foreigners in their mines. In 1913, the total was 145 , 337 - The average daily wage for all classes of workmen in the various districts was, in 1913, 5.17 francs. The number of days of work in the same year was 298. Underground conditions, depth of mining, etc., as well as the character of surface equipment determine to a large measure the annual production per individual; it varies from year to year, depending somewhat on the intensiveness of operations. In. 1913, it was 157 metric tons. TABLE VIII. Per Ton. I 906-1910. 1912. I 9 I 3 - Francs. Per Cent, of Average Selling Price. Francs. Per Cent, of Average Selling Price. Francs. Per Cent, of Average Selling Price. Total cost 14.04 91. II 16.22 97-94 17.51 95-48 Average selling price 15-41 100.00 16.56 100.00 18.34 100.00 Profit 1-37 8.89 0-34 2.06 O .83 4-52 Production f Costs , and Profits . — In 1913, there were 126 mines in operation; of these, 75 showed a total net profit of 33,905,100 francs, while 51 showed a loss of 14,960,050 francs. Table VIII. shows the cost, average selling price, and profit per ton of coal for the years indicated. Production of Coal . — As will be seen from an inspection of Table IX., the coal production for the pre-war decade was ap- 292 H. F. CROOKS. TABLE IX. Belgian Coal Production (Metric Tons). Year. Long Flame. Short Flame. Semi-bitum. Anthracite. Total Production. 1904 2,409,970 5,948,070 10,492,250 3,911,140 22,761,430 1907 2,454,660 6,092,500 10,215,420 4,942,610 23 . 705,190 1909 2,243,210 6,028,280 10,268,100 4,977,960 23 , 517,550 I9II 2,387,800 5 . 859,550 9,631,010 5 , 175.180 23 . 053,540 1913 2,110,790 5,453,626 9,715,610 5 , 561,570 22,841,590 proximately at the rate of 23,000,000 metric tons per year; fluc- tuations being due principally to variation in economic conditions, abandonment of mines because of exhaustion of reserves, and the delay attendant upon the opening up of new mines. It is thought that the opening of new mines in the Campine Basin together with the installation of modern machinery to replace that de- stroyed by the Germans in the South Basin will enable Belgian mines rapidly to re-establish normal production, and by 1920, to show the annual increase usual under favorable economic conditions. A glance at Table IX. will show that in the Mons and Centere districts, the production of long-flame coal declined fourteen per cent, between 1904-19 13, as did also that of short- flame coking coal, particularly in the Liege district where the de- veloped reserves are becoming exhausted; this decrease for the decade in the latter area being nine per cent, of the 1913 produc- tion. Semi-hituminous production remained approximately con- stant, while that of anthracite coal showed an increase of twenty- seven per cent, of the 1913 production for the decade, this being due to increases in both the Liege and Charleroi districts. An inspection of Fig. 38 shows a very constant coal production up to 1910; the decrease is caused not only by diminution of re- serves, but by refined metallurgic practice involved in the use of Westphalian coal as coke. Imports from England were largely for domestic purposes, while those from France were for indus- trial use by the frontier plants. Coal Imports and Exports . — In spite of the fact that Belgium produces large quantities of good coking and domestic coals, she was forced to import considerable tonnage from England, France, NOTES ON COAL INDUSTRY. 293 and Germany. This importation, in 1913, was thirty-nine per cent, of the production, twenty-two per cent, of this being used expressly in the manufacture of coke. These imports came chiefly from the Westphalian and Aachen districts in Germany. (Table X.) 30 i TOfi sumption v l 25 > — — 4 r Product ! 0 n J s 20 « MTTI 0 Met - To lone f"l " 15 10 Total Imports Y 5 1 iny , J | T N.— < ’"Imports from En Aland ► y ffIRpor’ta Trom' 7? fee 0 the corresponding profits being 1.72 marks per ton in the former instance and 2.00 marks in the latter. This is assuming that the private operators sold their coal at the same price as did the government, which is not always correct, for some of the former undersold the latter. It should be noted, however, that these profits are much higher than those of the French and Belgian coal mines. TABLE XVII. Saar Coal Mines and their Production (Metric Tons). 1904. 1910. * 9 * 3 - No. active mines 19 218 10,363,700 2,488,800 19-35 20 200 10,823,500 3.589.500 24.90 20 242 13,006,200 3,994,400 23-54 Aver. Am. Prod, per employee Production of state mines Production private mines (calculated) .... Per cent, of total product (calculated) .... Total production 12,852,500 14,413,000 17,000,600 Average selling price per ton (marks) 11.46 12.20 12.07 Imports and Exports . — Since the Saar District consumes only about fifty-seven per cent, of the coal it produces, it is a natural export province. The imports are relatively small and are in the nature of coking coal and coke from the nearby Westphalian coal fields. These imports are made necessary because of the fact that it has been found impracticable to smelt Lorraine iron ore with Saar coke unless the coke is mixed with about twenty per 300 H. F. CROOKS. cent, of Westphalian, or equally good coke. Taken alone, Saar coke has been found to have about sixty-seven per cent, the effi- ciency of Westphalian coke. Of the exports to France, nearly the entire amount is deliv- ered to blast furnaces in the Briey-Longwy iron ore district. In the compilation of exports (Table XVIII.) the exports to “Other Countries” are almost entirely to Switzerland and Italy. TABLE XVIII. Sources of Coal Consumed in Saar District (Metric Tons). 1904. I9IO. Total Saar production 12,852,500 588,200 98,100 628,000 1,348,000 38,000 14,413,000 705.500 149,200 376.000 E. 3,587,000 E. 727.000 17,000,600 810,900 794.000 134.000 6,326,000 900.000 Imports from Westphalia Exports to France “ “ Belgium “ “ Germany “ “ Other countries. . . . Total exports 2,012,000 4,839,200 8,154,000 Total consumption of Saar 8,580,300 10,279,300 9 . 657.500 E — estimated. Fig. 39. Saar District Production, Consumption and Exports of Coal. NOTES ON COAL INDUSTRY. 301 A diagrammatic representation of the coal production, con- sumption, and exports of the Saar District is shown in Fig. 39. Reserves . — The estimates of Boker given at the Twelfth In- ternational Geological Congress are the only ones at hand. It is thought that, if anything, these approximations are too low. The area has been well defined by drilling, and the principal actual reserves have been located in the east half of the basin. The effect of the control of these reserves by France has already been mentioned ; for, from a fifth-rate power as regards coal reserves, she advances to a position of third in Europe following Germany. The tabulation of reserves which follows shows that fifty-eight per cent, of the actual reserves of cokable coal are above a depth of 1,200 meters, as are also fifty-nine per cent, of the total actual reserves. TABLE XIX. Actual Coal Reserves of the Saar District, 1913 (Metric Tons). Cokable Coal. Total Coal. Between o and 1,200 meters 9,042,000,000 9,760,000,000 Between 0 and 2,000 meters 15,605,000,000 16,548,000,000 Commercial Use of Coal . — The principal use of Saar coal aside from strictly domestic consumption and export to Germany, is in its use in the metallurgical industry both in the Saar District and in the adjacent Briey-Longwy iron-ore field. The coking coal of the Saar District is of an inferior quality compared to that of the French, Belgian, and Westphalian fields with which it comes in competition. Its most direct competitor is the Westphalian coal which yields about seventy-eight per cent, coke against about fifty-two per cent, for the Saar field. It has been found that the Saar coke is not strong enough for blast fur- nace use. The best coking practice in the Saar District provides for an admixture of twenty per cent, of Westphalian coking coal in the coke ovens. For furnace charges one hundred fifty tons of Westphalian coke are considered the equal of one hundred eighty tons of Saar coke. Reducing these factors indicates that Saar coking coal for furnace use is sixty-seven per cent, of the value of Westphalian coking coal. In blast furnace practice, it is 302 H. F. CROOKS. customary when conditions permit to make the charge of equal quantities of Saar and Westphalian coke. Had the Saar coal not been in competition with the better fuel from Westphalia, the field would have undoubtedly been more extensively developed. In this competitive trade, the Saar coal finds its best use for steam, gas, and domestic purposes. Of the seventeen coking plants in the Saar District, ten belong to the Prussian Government, one to a French Company, and six to German corporations. Conclusion . — It has been shown that the estimates of actual reserves of coal in the Saar District will probably be increased by exploratory work in the western portion of the basin; that, with efficient operation, the government mines can be expected to in- crease their production at diminished cost; and that France can- not rely on coking coal from the district to supply that formerly imported from Westphalia, because of its inferior character for metallurgical work. An estimate of the value of German interests in Saar coal lands, mines, and coking plants is given in Table XX. In this estimate TABLE XX. Estimated Value of German Interests in Saar Coal Lands, Coal Mines, and Coking Plants, 1913. Prussian Government: Coal lands Coal mines and equipment Coke plants Total . . 120,000,000 francs . . 160,000,000 francs . . 20,000,000 francs 300,000,000 francs Bavarian Government: Coal lands Coal mines and equipment Total . . 5,000,000 francs . . 6,000,000 francs 11,000,000 francs Private Coal and Coke Companies: Coal lands Coal mines and equipment Coke plants Total Less French interests Total . . 50,000,000 francs . . 44,000,000 francs . . 36,000,000 francs . . 130,000,000 francs . . 30,000,000 francs 100,000,000 francs Grand total 411,000,000 francs NOTES ON COAL INDUSTRY. 303 coal lands were evaluated at 1,200 francs per hectare, mines at 12 francs per annual ton of production, and coke ovens at 30,000 francs each; the figures being obtained from the best information at hand. THE COAL INDUSTRY OF WESTPHALIA. General . — The coal fields of the Westphalia District are the largest and most productive in Germany and contain about 75 per cent, of the total German reserves. There are included in the district two distinct basins. The Westphalia basin proper lying east of the Rhine with its western extension, the North Krefeld basin, and the discontinuous basin of Briiggen-Erkelenz and Wurm-Inde areas. Of these two basins, that lying east of the Rhine produces the greater propor- tion of coal mined in the district. (See Fig. 35.) Geologic Features . — The coal basin of the Ruhr offers the greatest analogy with the Franco-Belgian fields. Coal occurs in the same geologic horizon, its lower part composed of a succes- sion of thick sterile sandstones which give place to a succession of coal beds in which one observes a like enrichment in volatile matter in an upward direction. Diastrophic movements, which resulted in the crumpling of the Franco-Belgian coal measures against the Ardennes massif, likewise crushed the beds on the west side of the Rhine against the Eifel, and those east of the Rhine against the granite to the south. The latter are folded in parallel plications under the action of this lateral pressure, the folding being more accentuated in the southern part of the basin where minor plications are numerous and steep than in the north- ern part where the folds are broad and deep. Normal faulting is prominent, radiating to the northeast and southwest. A large thrust fault delimits the southern boundary of the basin. Geographic Distribution . — The Westphalian coal district or the Basin of the Ruhr occupies an area of not more than three thousand square kilometers on the right bank of the Rhine, ex- tending in an easterly direction from Duisberg to Hamm, a dis- tance of about one hundred and forty kilometers, and has a width in the vicinity of Dortmund of about fifty-five kilometers. 304 H. F. CROOKS. The Briiggen-Erkelenz coal basin lies to the west of the Rhine and extends in a southerly direction from the Holland frontier to a little beyond Erkelenz, having a length of about twenty kilo- meters and a width of about eight kilometers. It crosses the Meuse River west of Venlo and is known in Holland as the non- conceded Basin of the Peel. The North Krefeld coal basin is the westward continuation of the Basin of the Ruhr, and extends west from the Rhine to the Holland frontier. Its length in a north-south direction is about thirty-six kilometers and its width from east to west is about thirty kilometers. The Wurm-Inde coal district has for its center Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen). It continues into Belgium as the Campine Basin. From just west of Diiren to the Belgian frontier it has a width of twenty-seven kilometers, and in a north-south direction a length of forty kilometers. In general, the various kinds of coal mined in the Basin of the Ruhr are distributed as follows : Coal. Depth, Meters. Part of Basin. Thickness, Meters. Gasflammenkohle 335 ± 7 Gaskohle 72 0 * ± 22 Fettkohle 568 West ± 23^4 Fettkohle 709 Central ± 28 Fettkohle 885 East ± 36 Fettkohle 600 North ± 19 $4 Magerkohle 1175 ±10 Data on the number of mines, thickness of the coal mined, and kind of coal are given for each of the above basins of the West- phalian District in Table XXI. Classification of Coal . — In Westphalia, coal is classified com- mercially as follows : Flammkohle which corresponds to the long-flame coal of France; Gazkohle which corresponds to the short-flame coal of France; Fettkohle which corresponds in part to both short-flame and semi-bituminous coal of France; Magerkohle which corresponds to the semi-bituminous coal of France; and Anthrazit which corresponds to the anthracite coal of France. NOTES ON COAL INDUSTRY. 305 TABLE XXI. Westphalian Coal Mines, and Kind of Coal Produced, 1913. Region. Location of Mines in Operation. No. of Coal Veins. Thickness Coal (Meters). Ave. Depth Mining Kind of Coal. Area. Ave. Max. (Meters). Ruhr .... East of Rhine. Essen as a center 173 136 0.80 1.0 698 Long-flame, short-flame, semi-bitum. Aachen . . Wiirm- Inde East, South and North of Aachen 12 36 O.4O 1.6 1,000 Long-flame, short-flame, and semi-bitum. Briiggen- Erkelenz West of Dusseldorf, left bank of Rhine 14 40 O.40 2.0 700 Long-flame, semi-bitum. and semi- anthr. Nord- Krefeld Left bank of Rhine. North of Krefeld. 22 49 0-94 1.2 1,000 Long-flame, short -flame, and semi- bitum. A classification on the basis of calorific value has been given in the article on the Saar District on page 298. Labor . — In 1913, 392,100 men were employed in the mines of the Westphalian coal district, of whom about twenty-five per cent, were foreign laborers. The average annual production per individual for that year was 299 metric tons ; that for the syndi- cate mines being 300 tons, and that for the non-syndicate mines 295 metric tons per employee per year. The average annual sal- ary per employee for both syndicate and non-syndicate mines was, in 1913, 1,714 marks, or 5.71 marks per day for three hun- dred working days. Cost of Mining and Profits . — Unfortunately no statistics are available which would enable a separation to be made between the earnings of mines adherent to the Westphalian Coal Syndi- cate and those that are non-syndicate. However, it is fairly cer- tain that the profits of the former exceeded the latter, since the Syndicate virtually controlled the fuel supply of the blast fur- naces and steel plants, thus being able to dictate prices. By agree- 306 H. F. CROOKS. ment with the Stahlswerkverband which controls the iron ancf steel industry, a fixed price was named for a given annual ton- nage of coal, the Syndicate being at liberty to name its own price per ton for all additional amounts supplied. In 19 11, this agree- ment was broken with the result in 1912 that the price of coal advanced 1.68 marks over the 1911 price and showed an addi- tional increase in 1913 of 0.60 marks over the 1912 price. Table XXII. shows that even with this increase the profits per ton of coal in 1913 were less than the average profit for the nine pre- ceding years. Cost, Average Selling Price, and Profit Per Ton of Coal. I904-I912. 1 9 I 3* Per Metric Ton. Marks. Average Selling Price (%). Marks. Average Selling Price (%). Total cost 8.l6 85-57 100.00 10.66 88.66 Average selling price at mine 9-54 1.38 12.02 100.00 Profit 14.43 1.36 11-34 Production of Coal . — In this paper the Westphalian District is understood to include the coal Basin of the Ruhr, the North Krefeld basin, the Briiggen-Erkelenz basin, and the Wiirm-Inde district, otherwise known as the Aachen or Aix-la-Chapelle dis- trict. The statistics on the Basin of the Ruhr include the Nieder- heinischer-Westfalischer commercial district and the Schaftberg- Piesberg districts, also a portion of the Oberbergamtsbezirk Dortmund. The total coal production of Prussia, in which all of these coal basins lie, was, in 1913, 181,413,000 metric tons; that of all Ger- many was 191,511,000 metric tons. Of the total Prussian pro- duction, 64 per cent, was produced by the Westphalian District, as was 62 per cent, of the total German production. With the exception of the North Krefeld basin no data on the production of the small basins has been found. This basin pro- duced 3,700,000 metric tons of coal in 1913. The enormous increase in production of 21,334,800 metric tons for the Westphalian District as a whole between the years of NOTES ON COAL INDUSTRY. 307 19 1 1 and 1913, is thought to be due not only to the opening up of eleven new mines, but to the more intensive and efficient min- ing methods adopted by the older mines. A tabulation of data on the coal mines of the Westphalian Dis- trict and their production for the decade 1904-1913 is given in Table XXIII. TABLE XXIII. Coal Mines of Westphalia and their Productivity (Metric Tons). 1904. 1910. 1913- No. of mines 160 248 67,255,000 95-00 3,489,000 5-oo 169 250 83,628,000 91.10 8,116,500 8.90 185 299 101,652,000 86.50 15.795.300 13-50 Ann. prod, per employee Prod, of Syndicate Mines % of total production Prod. Non-Syn. Mines % of total production Total production 15 70,744,000 91,844,500 117,447,300 Aver, selling price per ton (marks) i 8.25 9-79 12.02 Imports and Exports . — Of the total coal mined in Westphalia in 1913, 27 per cent, was exported to foreign countries and to other parts of Germany. This figure includes coke as well as coal. The realtively large local consumption is necessitated by the demands of the metallurgical and manufacturing industries located at Essen, Ruhrort, Duisberg, Dortmund, and Hamm, which consume annually about 4,500,000 tons of Lorraine iron ore. Extensive canalization of rivers in Germany and to the west has lowered freight rates as well as made accessible large inland manufacturing towns; and that, together with the navigable Rhine giving egress to the English Channel, has made the West- phalian coal fields of unrivaled importance in Europe. A tabulation of exports during the period 1904 to 1913 is given in Table XXIV. This tabulation for years 1904-1913 is graphically shown in Fig. 40. 14 Total production of all mines in the Ruhr, Krefeld, Bruggen-Erkelenz, and Aachen Basins, including Syndicate and Non-Syndicate Mines. 308 H. F. CROOKS. Reserves . — The estimates of Kukuk and Mintrop given before the Twelfth International Geological Congress in 1913 are the ^ iff CO O ° O 2 0> Fig. 40. Westphalian Production, Consumption and Exports of Coal. TABLE XXIV. Coal Production, Consumption, and Exports of Westphalia (Metric Tons). 1904. 1910. 19*3- Total production 70,774,000 663,000 2.311.000 7.619.000 3.800.000 91,884,500 2,007,800 4,213,900 11,925,000 6,214,000 117,447.300 2.688.000 5.728.000 15,603,000 7.749.000 Exports to France “ “ Belgium “ “ Germany “ “ Other countries Total exports i4»393.ooo 24,360,700 31,768,000 Total consumption 56,381,000 67,438, 800E. 85.679.300E , E — estimated. only ones at hand; they are given in a rearranged form in the table below. Exploratory work by drilling in the north, east, and west portions of the basin will serve to delimitate it and at NOTES ON COAL INDUSTRY. 309 the same time give more accurate knowledge as to the actual coal reserves. The southern border only has been definitely fixed as to the depth at which mining can at present be conducted at a profit. Exclusive of the Saar District it is known that 85 per cent, of the total actual reserves of cokable coal in Germany lie in the Basin of the Ruhr, and that 72 per cent, of the total actual re- serves of all kinds of coal, eliminating the Saar District, likewise occur there. TABLE XXV. The Actual Coal Reserves of Westphalia, 1913 (Metric Tons). Between o and 1,200 Meters. Between 0 and 2,000 Meters. Cokable Coal. Total Coal. Cokable Coal. Total Coal. Right hank of Rhine : Westphalia 26,373,000,000 39,481,000,090 33,354,000,000 m 56,344,000,000- Left hank of Rhine : Nord-Kref elder . 3.538,000,000 7,100,000,000 3,538,0*00,000 7,100,000,000 Briiggen- Erkelenz 1,732,000,000 1,746,000,000 1,732,000,000 1, 746, 000 , CO) Wiirm-Inde 537,000,000 1,612,000,000 537,000,000 1,612,000,000 Total 32,180,000,000 61,454,000,000 39,l6l,000,000 78,317,000,000 Commercial Use of Westphalian Coal . — It is due to the loca- tion of the Westphalian District at practically tidewater as well as to the excellent quality of the coal for metallurgical and indus- trial purposes, that the coal operators of the district have been able to control to such an extent the industry of Germany. Coal from the district is used not only in all parts of Germany but also in western Europe in general. It is this widespread use of the fuel that has enabled the Westphalian Coal Syndicate to control to such an extent the industry as well as the metallurgy of the The coal is extensively used for coking purposes. Due to refinements in process, the Germans have secured an almost in- credibly high recovery of by-products, and it is this efficiency of operation that has enabled them to undersell French and Belgian competitors. Conclusion . — The foregoing statements and figures present in- controvertible evidence of the dominating position of Westpha- 3io H. F. CROOKS. liancoal in the metallurgical industry of western Europe. France is dependent upon it even with the acquisition of the Saar fields, as is Belgium. The exchange of Lorraine ore for Westphalian coke would probably temporarily solve the problem. It has been shown, as well, that the district not only produces excellent grades of metallurgical coal in larger quantities than the other countries under consideration, but also more cheaply. In 1913, the total cost of mining represented only 89 per cent, of the selling price, while in France the same relation was 93 per cent., and in Belgium, 96 per cent. The average sale price of Westphalia and Saar coal, in 1913, was 9.64 francs per ton against an average price of 17.44 francs per ton for the same year for France and Belgium. In other words, German competitors undersell French and Bel- gian operators 90 per cent., yet make profits 100 per cent, in ex- cess of those of these two countries ! BIBLIOGRAPHY. L’Allemagne peut payer. Paris, 1919. Annales des Mines de Belgique. Bruxelles, 1904-1916. Annales des Mines de France. Paris, 1904-1915. Annuaire du Comite Centrale des Houilleres de France. Paris, 1904-1915. Annuaire du Comite des Forges de France. Paris, 1904-1915. 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