Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 2 (2nd edition).pdf/143

 WAN. The

markets, and are largely exported. rice, salt,

tobacco, pulses of

133 chief articles of export are

kinds, wheat, rape-seed, oil-cake, jute, sugar,

all

English and country-made cloth,

cotton,

etc.

principal

the



imports consist of English piece-goods, manufactured iron,

salt,

spices,

cocoa-nuts, and castor-oil.

Coal

.

its

— The Ram'ganj Sub-division

of Bardwan District

worked

coal mines, of which the principal,

is

noted

for

in 1881, are at Ram'ganj,

Madhabpur, Sankhtaria, Dhosal, Niamatpur, Desagarh, Mangalpur, Dhadka, Belrui', Baria, Siarsol, Charanpur, Lakhipur, Sibpur, and Jot Most of these belong to companies which have their head Janaki.

A

offices at Calcutta.

on Raniganj. the town of Ram'ganj article

full

account of

The

coal-field

this industry will

to several miles west of the

Barakhar

breadth from north to south about 18 miles. mineral

is

described as

‘

area included by

The

composed of

a non-coking bituminous coal,

distinct laminae of a bright jetty coal

The

The

greatest

estimated at about 500 square miles.

is

average amount of ash

is

and of a

from 14

dull,

the

river,

and the

greatest length from east to west being about 30 miles,

the coal-bearing strata

be found in the

extends from a few miles east of

more earthy

rock.’

15 per cent., varying from 8

to

to 25 per cent.

The miners

are

chiefly

semi-aboriginal or aboriginal castes, such

as Bauris or Santals, but low-caste

Muhammadans even

in

also

work

in

Hindus and the poorer

the collieries.

Their pay

is

class

high,

of

and

man and his wife more a month, being about

i860 a miner’s family, consisting of a

with three children, earned i8s. or even

In double the wage of an ordinary peasant or day-labourer at present. 1881, there w'ere altogether 37 coal mines at work in the District, of which 17 turned out upwards of 10,000 tons each per annum. The

was in 1868, when 564,933 tons were raised, but this In 1880, the out-turn from 47 mines was above the average. 525,472 tons; in 1881, the trade was in a somewhat depressed state, and the output fell to 442,933 tons from 37 mines. The chief objec(i) its nontions to the employment of Raniganj coal in India are

greatest out-turn is

—

coking property



(2) the small proportion

on which the value of coal

for heating

it

contains of fixed carbon,

purposes depends

(3) the large



proportion of ash, a greater quantity of Raniganj coal being required to

do the same work

as

good English coal



and

(4) its liability to sponof iron pyrites it

taneous combustion, due to the large proportion contains.

It has been proved practically that no Indian coal can do more than two-thirds, while most of it does not do more than one-half, the The present price of Raniganj coal varies work of English coal.

from

2S.

3d. to

^i,

5s. 7d.

a ton in Calcutta.

suitability for blast furnaces, for the

The

question of

its

manufacture of iron from the rich