(3368)
UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES
A writer on the coal areas of the nation says:
A good geologist, Baron von Richthofen, has reported that he has found a coal-field in the province of Hunau covering an area of 21,700 square miles, which is nearly double the British coal area of 12,000 square miles. In the province of Shansi, the baron discovered nearly 30,000 square miles of coal, with unrivaled facilities for mining. But all these vast coal-fields, capable of supplying the whole world for some thousands of years to come, are lying unworked.
If “the course of manufacturing supremacy of wealth and of power” were directed by coal, then China, which possesses 33.3 times more of this directive force than Great Britain, and had so early a start in life, should be the supreme summit of the industrial world. If this solid hydrocarbon “raises up one people and casts down another,” the Chinaman should be raised thirty-three times and three-tenths higher than the Englishman; if it “makes railways on land and paths on the sea,” the Chinese railways should be 33.3 times longer than ours, and the tonnage of their mercantile marine 33.3 times greater.
China is thus shown to be, potentially, the wealthiest coal-bearing country in the world. Actually, she is one of the poorest. The difference lies in her lack of utilization of that which is hers. So many a man fails of the best results. He possesses untold wealth, but he is morally and spiritually poverty-stricken because he fails to work the moral and spiritual deposit.
(3369)
UTILIZING SEAWEED
Owing to the formation of the coast, seaweed is present in great quantities along the shores of Prince Edward Island, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The high tide leaves a long stretch of territory between high and low water mark, where it grows. As a fodder it is eaten by oxen, sheep, and deer in winter, and when boiled with a small quantity of meal added it makes a desirable food for hogs.
From seaweed, when reduced to ashes, are gained some of the most beneficent preparations in use to-day. Some of these are iodin, bromin, hydriodic acid, iodides of sodium, mercury, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. From it are extracted coloring matters, volatile oil, and its ingredients are used in photography. It is further employed as coverings for flasks, in the packing of glass, china, and other brittle wares, for packing furniture, stuffing pillows and mattresses, and in upholstering. The claim is made that furniture stuffed with seaweed is kept free of moths and other insects, owing to its salty flavor.