The Gulf Province is at present of little commercial importance. Its coal is mined only at a few places in Texas, and is mostly lignite. The Northern Great Plains Province includes all the coal fields in the Great Plains east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The coals are of low rank, being either lignite or sub-bituminous, except in a few of the basins near the mountains. The largest coal region in this province is the Fort Union region, lying in the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming. The amount of unmined coal in this region is estimated to be twice as great as that lying in the rich Appalachian region, but it has been little worked, as it is generally of poor quality. The Rocky Mountain Province contains a greater variety of coal than any other province in the United States. It includes all ranks, from lignite to anthracite, but the prevailing ranks are sub-bituminous and low-grade bituminous. The coal of the Pacific Coast Province is mined chiefly in the state of Washington, where it has aided in developing the industries of the Puget Sound region. Oregon and California have small fields, but the coal is of poor quality, and little mining has been attempted. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 6, No. 6, SERIAL No. 154 COPYRIGHT, 1918. BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC. [Illustration: COURTESY BROWN HOISTING MACHINERY CO. CLEVELAND, O. COAL CAR DUMPER IN OPERATION] _THE STORY OF COAL_ _Handling Coal_ THREE In times gone by coal was carried out of the mines on the shoulders of men and women, and then transferred in wheelbarrows to the sailing-vessels or wagons in which it was taken to market. In progressive mines of today the coal is loaded in the mine into small mine cars, which are hauled and hoisted to the surface by electricity or steam. The mine cars are dumped on an elevated platform called the “tipple,” and the coal passes through chutes or conveyors to the railway cars waiting underneath to receive it. On its way downward it undergoes a more or less elaborate process of screening, breaking, picking, washing, etc., according to the kind of coal and the purpose for which it is to be used. The coal reaches the market by three general methods of transportation: (1) All-rail; (2) rail to the seaports, where it is used for bunkering steamers or carried by vessels to other ports, foreign and domestic; (3) rail to the Great Lakes, especially Lake Erie ports, from which it is carried to ports on the upper lakes, and from the latter again by rail to markets in the interior. The railroads themselves use about one-fourth of all the coal mined in this country. The coastwise coal-carrying trade is mainly by wooden barges towed by steamers, though much coal is also carried by schooners, some of which can carry a cargo of 5,000 tons or more. About four per cent. of the bituminous coal output goes to foreign countries.