Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Under the United Kingdom

In order for everyone to understand this story, it is necessary to review the origin of coal mines in a few sentences. In geological time, when the spheroid of Earth was forming, it was surrounded by a thick atmosphere impregnated with water vapor and saturated with carbonic acid.The vapors gradually condensed into a torrential rain that seemed to splash down from the necks of billions and billions of soda bottles.This is actually a carbonic acid liquid, which rushes down to a sticky and very weak earth, which is deformed suddenly or slowly by the combined action of the sun's heat and the heat of the earth's inner matter, forming the semi-fluid state.Since the internal heat has not yet accumulated to the core, the not-so-thick, incompletely hardened crust allows it to overflow through its pores.From this a vegetative phenomenon arose which, no doubt, might also arise on the surface of Venus or Mercury, the inner planets which are more similar than the ground of this luminous planet.

The land of the still unstable continent is therefore covered with endless forests.Carbonic acid, suitable for the development of the vegetable kingdom, was then extremely plentiful.So, the plants developed in the form of trees.Not a single herb.Here and there were great expanses of forest, devoid of flowering plants, of a monotonous appearance, and therefore far from supporting any life.The earth was not ready for the emergence of the animal kingdom. This is the composition of the pre-flood forest in the time of Noah.Dominating there is the vascular cryptogam class.Reed wood, various species of horsetail, scale wood, various giant stone pines of twenty-five or thirty meters high and a meter wide at the base, ferns, sealwoods of which impressions have been found in the mines of Sant'Ediena, of great proportions Recognized only among the lowest creatures on the earth inhabited by man, were the majestic plants of that time, whose analogues were few in number, but grew tall and large, and of which the forests of that age consisted alone.

The roots of those trees were then submerged in an endless lagoon thinned out by a mixture of fresh and sea water.They greedily absorb the carbon that they decant out from the atmosphere little by little, but they are still unable to adapt to the operation of life. It can be said that they are destined to be stored in the interior of the earth itself in the form of coal. In fact, it was an era of frequent earthquakes. Those earthquakes caused by internal fluctuations and deep effects suddenly changed the unstable contours of the earth's surface.Here, the swollen places became mountains; there, the deep pits were filled by the ocean or sea.Whole forests then sank into the crust of the earth, passing through the constantly moving strata until they found a point of support, and thus formed the ancient soil of granitic rocks, or by sinking, formed extremely solid piece of

The geological composition of the earth's interior is actually in this order: above the ancient strata are newly added strata composed of Paleozoic strata, followed by Mesozoic strata, in which the coal bed is in the lower layer, then Tertiary strata, and on top These are ancient and modern alluvial strata. At that time, there was no river bed capable of retaining the condensed water produced everywhere on the earth, which in its rushing stripped the constituents of schist, sandstone, and limestone from the barely formed rock.The water flowed over the peaty forests, leaving behind elements of the soil that would form the coalfields.Over time over millions of years these soils hardened, layered and enclosed entire sunken forests in conglomerate, schist, dense or friable sandstone, Under the thick geological formation of gravel and gravel.

During this time, what happened in the huge crucible of plant material accumulated at several different depths?A real chemical process, a distillation.The carbon contained in these plants was all bound together, and coal was formed bit by bit under the dual action of tremendous pressure and the high temperature generated by the heat of the interior that was so close to it at that time. And so, with this slow but irrepressible reaction, one kingdom replaced another.Plants turned into ore.The plants that first lived in vegetative life by their vital sap were petrified.Certain incompletely altered substances enclosed within this vast flora left their imprint on other products of more rapid mineralization, as if pressed upon them with immeasurably strong hydraulic pressure. .At the same time, some shells swept away by the water, some plant-shaped animals, such as starfish, coral bones, stone swallows, fish, and lizards, also left their clear impressions on the still soft coal, just like scratches. An astonishing stroke of luck.

Moreover, it must be noted that all those plants in which impressions have been found belong to species still extant in the equatorial regions of the globe.From this it can be concluded that at that time, everywhere on the earth was equally hot, whether the heat was brought by warm currents, or whether it was felt on the surface of the earth by the heat from the ground penetrating through the hard shell with holes.This can be used to explain how the carbon-bearing formations formed under all the latitudes of the earth. Pressure appears to play an important role in the formation of carbon-bearing formations.In fact, different types of coal used in industry are due to different pressure strengths.Therefore, in the bottom few layers of the coal mine, anthracite is mined. In this kind of coal, there are almost no volatile substances and the carbon content is the largest.In the highest layers, on the contrary, lignite and fossil wood, the substances with the least carbon content, emerge.Between these two layers, according to the degree to which the formation is under pressure, veins of graphite, fat or lean coal are seen, and it can even be asserted that the peaty bog formations have not been completely altered due to lack of sufficient pressure.

Thus, the origin of coal mines found in several places on the earth is as follows: during geological time, vast forests were engulfed in the earth's crust, and then, under the influence of pressure and heat, under the action of carbonic acid, accompanied by Time completes mineralization. Yet nature, always so generous, has not swallowed enough forests to feed millennia.There will be a shortage of coal one day, that's for sure.If some new fuel doesn't replace coal, the world's machines will have to face a debalancing period.If it were not for Greenland, there would be a perpetual sheet of ice covering the carbonaceous deposits around the Baffin Island Sea, and sooner or later there would be no carbonaceous deposits, and mining in those places would be almost impossible.This is an inevitable fate.The coalfields in the United States, which are still extremely rich today, such as the Salt Lake coalfield, the Ogeron coalfield, and the California coalfield, will one day be in short supply.So will the coal mines of Breton and St. Lauren, the deposits of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri.Although the carbonaceous deposits in North America are ten times greater than all the deposits in the world, within ten centuries the behemoth with its industrial million mouths will swallow the last coal on earth.

The Old Continent has been known to feel coal-starved faster.At Abyssiny, at Ninatal, on the Zambezi, at Mozambique, in Madagascar, there are many combustible deposits, but their regular exploitation is exceedingly difficult.Burma, China, Cochin China, Japan, Central Asia, where the combustible mineral deposits will be exhausted soon.The British would surely have exhausted the considerable reserves of coal produced beneath Australia before the United Kingdom ran out of coal.By then, the hollowed-out carbonaceous veins of Europe had long since been abandoned. Let us make an estimate by the figures of coal consumption since the discovery of the first coal beds.Russia, Saxony, and Bavaria have 600,000 hectares of coal; Spain 150,000; Bohemia and Austria 150,000.Forty miles long and three miles wide [note] the Belgian coalfields also have 150,000 hectares. These coalfields stretch under the land of Liege, Namur, Mons and King Charle.In France, the coal fields are located between the Loire and the Rhone, the mining of the Quai, Saint-Etienne, Givaux, Urbinal, Blanche, Creuzot︱Gard, Allais, Grand︱Combe From Avellon to the mines of Auban, Camo, Bassac, and the coal bunkers of Grace Sac, Angzan, Valencien, Lens, and Bedouin in the north have about 350,000 hectares.

【Note】Guri, France, together four kilometers.Miles not specified. There can be no doubt that the richest country in coal is the United Kingdom.With the exception of Ireland, which has an almost absolute lack of combustible minerals, the United Kingdom has enormous carbon-bearing wealth but, like all other wealth, it is depleted.Among all kinds of coal fields, the most important is the Newcastle coal field, which is located underground in Northumberland County, with an annual output of 30 million tons of coal; that is, nearly one-third of the coal consumption of the United Kingdom and two-thirds of the coal production of France. times more.In the coalfields of the Swede area, where miners are concentrated in Cardiff, Swan Sea, and Newport, 10 million tons of the precious coal that bears that name are produced annually.In the Midlands, the coalfields of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire are all being mined, producing less but still considerable coal.At last, in this part of Scotland between Edinburgh and Glasgow, between these two seas so sunken by the waves; stretches one of the greatest veins of mines in the United Kingdom.The total number of these different coal fields will not be less than 1.6 million hectares, and the annual output of this black fuel can reach 100 million tons.

But that's nothing!To satisfy the needs of industry and commerce, the consumption of coal will increase to exhaust these wealth.It is not necessary to wait until the end of the third millennium of the Christian era【Note】.In Europe the hand of the miners would empty the warehouses which, according to a reasonable imagination, contained the heat of the ancient sun. Note: In view of the increased consumption of coal, here are the final statistics of when this combustible ore was exhausted in Europe: France after 1140 England eight hundred years later belgium seven hundred and fifty years later

Germany three hundred years later On the basis of five billion tons per year, the deposits in the United States can supply coal for 6,000 years. At the time when this story happened, one of Scotland's most important coal fields was hollowed out due to excessive mining.In fact, the Aberfoyle coal mining area is in this area, stretching between Edinburgh and Glasgow, under a medium-sized land of ten to twelve miles, engineer James.Stahl had led the engineering there for so long. And for a decade, the mines had to be left behind.Although the exploration has penetrated to a depth of 1,500 or even 2,000 feet, no new veins have been found. When James.When Starr left, he was sure that even the poorest veins had been dug. So in this case, the discovery of a new coalfield deep beneath the UK would obviously be a dramatic event.Simon.Could Ford's announcement be about something of this nature?This is James.Starr thought about it.It is also what he hopes. In short, was there another corner of this fertile black India calling upon him to conquer again?He likes to think so. The second letter had clouded his mind for a time on this point, but he no longer considered it now.Besides, the old foreman's son was there, waiting for him as agreed.Therefore, anonymous letters no longer have any value. The engineer just stepped onto the pier.The young man walked towards him. you are harryFord?James.Starr asked him urgently, straight to the point. Yes, Mr. Starr. I don't even recognize you, kid!ah!Ten years passed.You are grown up! I, I recognize you.replied the young miner, hat in hand, you have not changed, sir.You are still the one who embraced me at the coal bunker in Dochart on the day we parted!This is unforgettable, these things! Put your hat on, Harry, said the engineer, it's raining hard, and politeness shouldn't cause a cold. Would you like us to take shelter from the rain, Mr. Starr?Harry.asked Ford. no harry.Time is running out.It's going to rain all day, I'm in a hurry.let's go. At your command, replied the young man. Tell me, Harry, how is Father? Excellent, Mr. Starr. What about mother? Mother is fine too. Is it your father who wrote me a letter asking me to go to Yale Mine? not me. Can Simon.Did Ford therefore send me a second letter canceling the appointment?the engineer asked urgently. No, Mr Stahl, replied the young miner. OK!James.Starr replied, not to mention the anonymous letter. Then, he said: So can you tell me what old Simon wants me to do?he asked the young man. Mr Stahl, my father insisted on speaking to you himself. But you know that? I know. Well, Harry, I won't ask you any more.Let's go, because I'm anxious to talk to Simon.That's right, Ford, where does he live now? in the mine. how!In the Dochart coal bunker? Yes.Mr Starr.Harry.replied Ford. how!Did your family leave the old mine after the project was over? Not a day, Mr. Starr.You know your father.There he was born, and there he will die! I get it, Harry I get it!The coal mines of his hometown!He won't let it go!So are you happy there? Yes, Mr. Starr, replied the young miner, for we love each other so sincerely that we don't need much! Well, Harry, said the engineer, let's go! So, James.Starr followed the young man through the streets of Callander. Ten minutes later, the two left the city.