The assets of the Company comprise at this date, April 30, the following items constituting the contingent fund, held in trust, and subject to the orders of the Board, viz.

During the year 1855, the capital stock was increased by $1,300; the funded debt was diminished by $495,400; the floating debt lessened by $56,655; and the general indebtedness of the Company reduced by $556,328.23.

On the first of January last the aggregate of the Company's liabilities, including capital stock, funded debt, and obligations of every kind, and including also their own loans held in trust, was $6,774,472.37.

Excluding the item last named, the amount was $6,485,594.98.

The accounts herewith submitted present a detailed exhibit of the financial condition of the Company, which can scarcely fail of being satisfactory to the Stockholders.

During the year the regular semi-annual dividends, of 3 per cent. each, were made upon the capital stock. A distribution of scrip, not entitled to dividend, was also made among the Stockholders to the amount, at par, of $194,650; and an equal amount of the six per cent. loans of the Company cancelled.

For the present season the production of coal from the Lehigh region will, as heretofore, depend upon the activity of the market, the extent of the demand, upon the boating force, and upon the trade being exempt from casualties and interruptions.

The supply of boats and boatmen is good; and, should the demand warrant it, the Company, as well as many of the other operators in the region, are in a position materially to increase their production. Thus far the aspect of the market, notwithstanding the introduction of some disturbing elements, is favorable; and there seems to be good reason to anticipate an active business with improving prices.

From the Company's Canal there will be some diversion, by the Lehigh Valley Railroad, of the trade from the second coal field; but it is not supposed that it will be to an extent greater than will be compensated by the increased shipments on to the canal from other quarters, and especially from the Wyoming Valley, by the way of the Company's Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad and White Haven.

The indications are distinct and strongly significant of the approaching rapid development and growth of a large and valuable trade by this feeder to the Company's navigation. To accommodate this expected expansion in the business of the road, additions have been made to the rolling stock upon the line, and valuable improvements effected in the working of the planes; whilst further changes, intended to afford increased facilities to the trade, are projected.

From the accompanying Report of the Company's Engineer, it will be noticed that the important and very desirable improvements in augmenting the depth of water in the canal; in the rebuilding and enlarging of old locks and the construction of new ones; in the substitution of drop gates for swing gates; in raising and strengthening the canal banks; and in the construction on the berm bank of a second towing path, referred to in last year's Report as having been begun, have been zealously prosecuted during the past season and

winter.

Lock No. 10, on the Upper Section, has been rebuilt of the full width of 22 feet. On the Lower Section several new locks, including an outlet lock into the pool of the Lehigh River at South Easton, have been begun, some of

them completed, and the remainder soon will be; the bridge over the pool of dam No. 8, intended for the accommodation of the boatmen and their teams, is about to be finished and brought into use; twenty-one miles of new towing path have been made; the deepening of the canal to not less than six feet water has, with the exception of a very few miles on the Upper Section, been accomplished; and a new weigh scale, of improved construction, of great sensitiveness and accuracy, and not liable to accident and injury from fire, has been put up.

These, with minor improvements, all of which are described in the Engineer's Report hereto appended, have necessarily involved a considerable expenditure; but, on the other hand, the capacity of the canal has been thereby greatly enlarged, and the transit of freight very much expedited.

The Managers are gratified at being able to report that an appropriation for the improvement of the Delaware Division has at last been made by the Legislature, which, however small in reference to the magnitude of the interests involved, will yet, if judiciously and economically applied, accomplish much towards securing the additional depth of water indispensable to a successful competition with rival avenues to market.

It is hoped, too, that this Act of the Legislature may be regarded as initial in its character, and as indicative of an intention to persevere in a policy thus happily begun until this most productive portion of the State works has been brought into a condition, in some adequate degree, commensurate with the wants of the trade and with the capacity of the canals, of which the Delaware Division forms the connecting link.

The Morris Canal, furnishing a very valuable outlet to the trade of the Lehigh, with a steadily growing business, and under an intelligent administration, is improving from year to year in its capacity and in the facilities offered to those who use this route to market.

About the first of April of the present year the repairs to the Company's Canal were completed, and the Lower Section ready for the admission of the water; and the Upper Section was ready very soon after. But, in consequence of the extreme severity of the past winter, the depth of the frost in the canal banks, and the prolonged obstructions from ice, the navigation did not actually open from Mauch Chunk before the 14th, and from White Haven not until the 18th of the same month.

Shipments of coal from the former place began on the 14th of April; but were again suspended for several days by a rise of water from frequent rains, and from the melting of the snow at that time still remaining in the mountains; subsequently they became more regular, and have since then been steadily on the increase.

Very nearly the whole of the probable production of coal from the Company's mines for the current season has been disposed of at prices which would seem to insure its being promptly and regularly called for; whilst the barrenness of the market, and the condition of trade and manufacturing industry generally, appear to warrant the expectation of a healthy and remunerating business for the year.

By Order of the Board of Managers.

JAMES COX, President.

COAL MEASURES AND AGGREGATES.

In statistics of coal, when the number of tons reaches millions, the mind receives no definite impression, or very slight; as is the case in speaking of planetary and siderial distances. A larger measure than the ton seems desirable, and an image of form which may be easily and definitely conceived. The receipts at Philadelphia by the Reading Railroad, for the year ending December 1st, are stated to be 2,205,281 tons, an advance of about 12 per cent. on the receipts of the preceding year. The common reader understands the latter circumstance,-the advance, but of the former-the tons—he has

the idea only of a huge quantity, which might as well have been any larger number.

The average weight of a cubic foot of coal is exactly 96 lbs., and proximately in miners' language, 100; and a cubic yard, containing 27 cubic feet, weighs 2,240 to 2,715, mean 2,601 lbs.; but at the mines a yard is estimated at a ton of 2,240 lbs. These differences, though important in the city market, are not regarded at the mines when speaking of excavation, and they will not seriously affect our present purpose. Let, then, a cubic foot weigh 100 lbs. and a cubic yard a ton.

Now, a cube of coal measuring 10 linear yards, or 30 feet in diameter, will contain 1,000 cubic yards or tons of coal; and if we cut it into four prisms, and place them coincidently, one above another, we shall have a prism of 15 feet square by 120 high-a base as large as an ordinary sized room in a dwellinghouse, and a height about that of the dome of the State House in Boston. Such a prism contains 1,000 tons of coal, and almost any one can form a clear conception of its magnitude.

Again, a square acre contains 160 square rods, and one side measures 12 2-3 linear rods. If within this area we erect 100 of our prisms with spaces of six feet between them on each side, as we may, we shall have on one acre 100,000 tons of coal. On ten acres we might erect 1,000 prisms—1,000,000 tons of coal; and this cohort of black towers may be as easily conceived as the company of 100 prisms on the one acre, or the unit prism with which we started.

We may now proceed more intelligibly in speaking of aggregates. The consumption of Boston, or rather the receipts at Boston for the year 1853, were 426,998 tons; for 1855 probably 500,000 tons. This would require for its 500 prisms, placed as above, 5 acres-1-15 part of Boston Common. The receipts at Philadelphia by the Reading R.R. for the past year, 2,205,281 tons, would require for its 2,205 prisms, 22 acres nearly one third the common. The anthracite beds of Pennsylvania, and they are the only beds of that specie in the United States, all lie east of the Susquehanna. The production of these mines for 1854 was 7,273,750 tons, which would require 72 3-4 acres for its prisms-a space as large as the whole common. Moreover, the total production of these mines since the first shipment in 1820 of 365 tons, is 57,228,639 tons, which would cover a space eight times as large as Boston Common.

Once more, these anthracite beds cover an area of 437 square miles (see "Statistics of Coal," by R. C. Taylor) of workable coal-meaning by workable, veins not less than three or four feet in thickness. Taylor estimates the thickness of vein for the whole coal field of Pennsylvania, both anthracite and bituminous, at from 10 to 15 feet. But as the anthracite much exceeds in thickness the bituminous, it is probable the average of the anthracite is at least 15 feet-many being 40, and some 50 and even 60 feet thick. Now, an acre of coal with a vein one foot thick, is found to yield 1,000 tons-one of our prisms. Hence, a vein of 15 feet will give 15,000 tons to the acre. But 437 square miles equals 279,680 acres, which, multiplied by 15,000, gives the incomprehensible number of 4,247,700,000 tons. But apply the prismatic unit, and reduce the tons to cohorts of black towers, one hundred to the acre as before, and we shall get them upon an area of 66 square miles-a township of a little more than eight miles square.

Or to take a larger unit. If we consolidate a thousand of our prisms1,000,000 tons, into a cube, that cube will be 300 feet high; and there will be 4,247 such cubes, each occupying an area of two acres: and the whole, an area of 13.7 square miles with no spaces between. With them a wall might have been built around ancient Nineveh, whose circumference was 60 miles, 600 feet high and 600 thick. Placed contiguously in a straight line they would extend 960 miles.

Will those anthracite beds ever be exhausted? If the estimate is fair-437 square miles with an average thickness of 15 feet-they cannot last always. The past year has abstracted six of our great cubes. At that rate 700 years would scoop the beds about clean. But the consumption will very soon be doubled. For the next one hundred years, it is not extravagant to set the annual consumption at twenty of our cubes (20,000,000 tons) which would exhaust the mines in a little more than two hundred years.

CANNEL COAL AND ITS PRODUCTS--IMPROVEMENT OF COAL RIVER.

A proposition is now before the Legislature for an increase of the capital stock of the "Coal River Navigation Company," in the additional sum of $100,000. One hundred and twenty-two thousand dollars have already been expended by the Company in the improvement of the river; and it is now asserted, after the most careful estimates, that by a further expenditure of one hundred thousand dollars, the entire work can be completed. The "Western Mining and Manufacturing Company" own immense, and we might say, practically, exhaustless fields of cannel coal bordering this stream, at a distance of thirty-six miles from its mouth, and, as a matter of course, are deeply interested in the progress of this improvement. To facilitate the completion of it, they now propose to purchase of the State her bonds to the amount of sixty thousand dollars (three fifths of the increase asked for by the Navigation Company), thereby investing the State with the funds necessary to pay her proportion. They further propose to subscribe the remaining forty thousand dollars at once, so there may be no delay in the prosecution of this great work.

It is estimated that 5,000,000 bushels of coal will be shipped annually over this improvement to the Big Kanawha, thence to the Ohio River. The tolls accruing to the company will be about one cent per bushel, which would be $50,000 on the aggregate amount. The tolls on shipments of coopers' stuff, sawed lumber, &c., &c., and upon return trips, will not fall short of $15,000. If these estimates are verified-and from the data before us we doubt not they will be fully-the work will be a profitable one to the stockholders, while, at the same time, it will develop the rich mineral treasures of the section of country it traverses. The coal fields of Pennsylvania are taxed in some instances as high as four hundred dollars per acre, pouring anuually into the treasury of the State immense sums of revenue. It is but fair to infer that, with equal facilities of transportation, this commonwealth would find in the coal fields of Kanawha and Boone Counties equally as prolific sources of wealth. The Covington and Ohio Railroad, which is but a continuation of the great Central route, crosses Coal River near its confluence with the Kanawha. At an early day after the completion of these improvements, it is not unreasonable to assume that the great superiority of the cannel coal over all other, as an article of fuel and a producer of light and heat, will bring it into general use in the eastern cities. Three fourths of the cannel coal yet discovered in the United States lie in Western Virginia, constituting one of the richest mines of wealth that has ever been developed in any country, not excepting the auriferous streams and hills of California.

From this coal is extracted, at a cost not exceeding 16 cents per gallon, a valuable lubricating and burning oil. Probably some of our readers may have noticed, a few evenings since, upon the clerk's table of the House of Delegates, a lamp containing this oil. The clear, bright flame emitted actually made the candles around it look dull and dim. It burns free from all offensive odor and smoke, and this fact, in connection with its cheapness, must insure for it an extensive and general use. The yield is forty gallons per ton. It also yields thirty gallons of benzole per ton, which is easily convertible into gas, and must eventually supersede the gas at present in use in our cities. From twenty to twenty-five pounds of clean, white wax are also produced from a ton of cannel coal, which are made into candles of adamantine firmness.

Some fine specimens of this coal, from the mines of the "Western Mining and Manufacturing Company," have been exhibited here during the session, by J. E. Peyton, Esq. A lump has been upon the clerk's table, in the Hall of Delegates, for the past week or two. It has been very justly admired for its firm and beautiful texture, and its freedom from dirt.

We hope it will be the pleasure of the present Legislature to extend its aid to the Coal River Company, and place them in a condition to develop the treasures of our State. The operations of the mining companies interested in the improvement of Coal River will be greatly retarded if something is not done before the adjournment.-Richmond Dispatch.

CALLAWAY MINING COMPANY.

Extract from a letter dated St. Louis, August 5.

"Within a couple of weeks past, the coal cars of the Callaway Mining Company have been actively engaged in transporting the products of their valuable mines to the company's landing on the Missouri River.

"These mines are reached by a railroad 6 3-4 miles in length, just completed, and well equipped, with all the necessary rolling stock, and an additional first-class locomotive, manufactured expressly for the company by Messrs. Norris & Sons, of your city.

"This coal is said to be of a superior quality-not much unlike the celebrated Boghead Cannel of Scotland; it extends over the greater part of the company's property, in veins of over twenty-five feet in thickness. The miners quarry it out (so to speak) in blocks of immense size, and the quantity presented full to view, in the bluff they are now working, would seem to prove the supply positively inexhaustible.

"The demand at the landing for the Callaway coal must become very great, both up and down the river, supplying it from St. Louis to New Orleans, since for gas, steam purposes, or household use, it has no rival, apart from the recently discovered oleaginous properties it possesses, which give it an increased value."

We are glad to learn these facts, for it must be confessed that the operations and prospects of the company have for a long time been seemingly strug gling under a cloud, while the company have been quietly building their road and bending every energy for the promotion of its best interests for ultimate success and profit.-Evening Journal.

COAL LOCOMOTIVES IN THE WEST.

A report has been presented by James C. Clark, Division Superintendent on the Illinois Central Railroad, describing the economic results of using coal in locomotives in comparison with wood as fuel. He fitted up a wood-burning locomotive for burning coal, and he made twenty-one trips with it, running 2310 miles. The expense for converting the engine into a coal-burner was only $275, and the results have been gratifying. A wood-burning engine, running with it on alternate days, consumed 89 cords of wood in running 2310 miles, the cost of which was $289.32; the fuel for the coal burner amounted to only 88 tons, and cost $115.50-less than one third that of wood. The cost of wood for all the other engines used on the railroad was in the same proportion.

The fire-box of the coal-burner did not appear to be the least injured by the twenty-one trips, and the grates were not warped in the least. The fuel was bituminous coal-that belonging to the Illinois coal fields. All of our railroads will yet be driven to the use of coal for fuel; it is the cheapest they can use now, and the sooner they institute measures for its universal adoption so much the better for themselves.