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
