REPORT ON

COAL IN ALASKA FOR USE IN UNITED STATES NAVY

A LETTER FROM

THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY

TRANSMITTING

REPORT OF SURVEY AND INVESTIGATION BY
EXPERIMENTAL TESTS OF COAL IN ALASKA
FOR USE ON BOARD SHIPS UNITED STATES
NAVY, AND UPON COAL AND COAL FIELDS
AVAILABLE FOR SAID PURPOSE

APRIL 3, 1914.-Referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs and ordered
to be printed, with illustrations

H D-63-2-vol 158-16

WASHINGTON

LETTER OF SUBMITTAL.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, March 23, 1914.

SIR: The naval appropriation act approved August 22, 1912, makes provision for the survey and investigation by experimental test of coal in Alaska for use on board ships of the United States Navy, and for report upon coal and coal fields available for the production of coal for the use of the ships of the United States Navy and any vessel of the United States.

In accordance with the foregoing I have the honor to submit herewith the report required by the above-mentioned act.

Very respectfully,

JOSEPHUS DANIELS,
Secretary of the Navy.

The SPEAKER, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Washington, D. C.

This report is divided into the following chapters:

(1) Reports of the geologists and mining engineer and a general statement by Dr. J. A. Holmes, director of the Bureau of Mines, under whose direction and supervision was placed all the technical matters pertaining to the geological and mining investigations of the field, as well as the securing of a tonnage of representative coal sufficient for test on board the armored cruiser Maryland and at the Engineering Experiment Station, Annapolis, Md.

(2) Brief description of the transporting of the test coal from Trout Creek (Bering River fields) to tidewater.

(3) Summary of the tests of this coal conducted by the U. S. S. Maryland.

(4) Tests of a portion of the same coal at the Engineering Experiment Station, Annapolis, Md.

(5) General conclusions and opinions of the Navy Department on the suitability of this coal for use of the ships of the United States Navy and any vessel of the United States.

REPORT OF THE NAVAL COAL EXAMINATION IN THE BERING RIVER FIELD, AUGUST TO NOVEMBER, 1912.

GENERAL STATEMENT.

By J. A. HOLMES, Director Bureau of Mines.

ORGANIZATION AND PRELIMINARY WORK OF THE EXPEDITION.

The act making appropriations for the naval service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, approved August 22, 1912, provided that of the total appropriation for depots for coal, etc., "$75,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, may be used for the survey and investigation by experimental tests of coal in Alaska for use on board ships of the United States Navy and for report upon coal and coal fields available for the production of coal for the use of the ships of the United States Navy and any vessels of the United States."

With a view to carrying out this provision of the act, the Secretary of the Navy requested of the Secretary of the Interior that the Bureau of Mines take charge of all the technical operations in connection with this investigation. This request was acceded to by the Secretary of the Interior, and the necessary instructions were issued to the Director of the Bureau of Mines.

After a conference between the Director of the Bureau of Mines and the Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering, it was decided that the investigations to be carried on during the late summer and autumn of 1912 should be concentrated in the Bering River coal field, and that later, if circumstances permitted, plans would be inaugurated for a similar investigation in the Matanuska coal field.

In organizing the personnel of the expedition to carry out the purpose of the above act, the following selections were made:

Mr. R. Y. Williams, a mining engineer of the Bureau of Mines, who had been for some years the manager of coal-mining operations, and who was thoroughly experienced in the modern methods for safeguarding the lives of the miners, was placed in charge of the technical operations of the expedition. Mr. Sumner S. Smith, another of the mining engineers of the Bureau of Mines, who had also been a practical miner and a superintendent of a coal mine, as well as mine inspector in Alaska, was assigned as general assistant to Mr. Williams. Mr. C. A. Fisher, a mining geologist of extended practical experience in the examination of coal deposits under the Geological Survey, and who had already made an exhaustive preliminary examination of a large part of the Bering River coal field, was added to the expedition, and to him was assigned the special duty of selecting the beds of coal to be tested in connection with the naval coal expedition. Mr. W. R.